


Sunshine Harbour

by thestripedhufflepuff



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Adventure, Boyfriends, F/F, F/M, Gay, Intrigue, Love, M/M, Mystery, Religion, Secrets, missing person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-12-15
Packaged: 2018-04-12 20:25:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 110,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4493505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thestripedhufflepuff/pseuds/thestripedhufflepuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Growing up as a queer bastard child in a small, heavily religious town, Tobio Kageyama had no one but his boyfriend, Shoyo Hinata, to turn to. However, when Hinata goes missing for over a year, Kageyama decides it's time to take action and look for his lost lover- but where to start? It's not until Kageyama receives a mysterious postcard in the mail, directing him to a  town called Sunshine Harbour, does he begin to take his first few steps to uncovering the secrets behind Hinata's disappearance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Year Had Passed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elsilly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elsilly/gifts).



> BEFORE YOU READ THIS ~  
> Please note that this story talks quite a lot about religion, which could be viewed in a negative way. I do not wish to offend anyone.  
> Also, the character talks very briefly about suicide, and I figured I should at least give a bit of a warning. I don't want to set off any triggers.  
> (Side note: The school system in this story is based off the English one, so they start high school at 12 and finish at 18, rather than the Japanese version. The world they live in is a fictional version of Earth.)

 Nobody had really cared when Shoyo Hinata went missing a little over a year ago. His name had been in the papers a bit, not front page news, who cared about some queer kid when a well-known white heterosexual couple were splitting up for the umpteenth time?

 Posters had gone up around his school and in the neighbourhood, but it wasn't long before they'd been ripped down or covered up, the majority of them vandalised.  The teachers had to remove any that had had crude words scrawled across them and nobody cared to replace them.

 When the students at Karasuno High spoke about Shoyo Hinata, they used foul language to describe him, spoke about his 'chosen' sexuality and how he had brought shame to their community with such acts of depravity, how his actions went against God's will. They scratched all over his school desk, wishing him to stay away, and only prayed he could have taken his abomination of a boyfriend along with him when he'd up and skipped town.

 That was the rumour that went around, a week after his disappearance. The parents had fed lies to their children about what was 'right and wrong' in love, and they'd all spat at Hinata, bullied him when he was alone, and told him that God's wrath would one day smite him and he'd be thrown into the pits of Hell where he belonged.

 For some reason, none of this had ever gotten to Hinata, who was always upbeat and positive and had a smile on his face. He actually found their words quite amusing, and would do nothing to stop them when they tried to hurt him. He always said 'they'll get bored eventually.'

 Tobio Kageyama had been suspended many times because of Hinata. He barely left his side, because other than being absolutely head-over-heels in love with him, he knew the other children wouldn't try anything when Kageyama was around. He was tough and he wasn't afraid to knock someone's teeth out, which had actually happened during one lunch when Kageyama had punched a boy in the face for calling Hinata a disgusting name and he'd almost choked on his front two teeth.

 He'd honestly been surprised they'd never actually expelled him, for some reason, unknown to him, even though he had asked several times, they always allowed him back. He often got the same line thrown at him, about how God always forgives his children. He suspected they'd set out on a little religious mission to reform him and make him atone for his 'sins', but they were always going to be disappointed.

  Despite never actually officially announcing that they were dating, the town knew. It was obvious, the pair of them had been inseparable since they met in first year, when they were only twelve (although they hadn't officially started dating until they were fourteen). It didn't help when they were caught kissing behind the bike sheds in their second-to-last year of High School.

 Kageyama's mother lost her job because of it, although they told her it was because she wasn't 'working hard enough', which Kageyama knew was a load of crap because his mother worked harder than anyone, especially since she was raising him alone after his father had abandoned her during pregnancy. She never spoke of him, didn't have any photos, but often remarked how Kageyama had gotten his eyes. He couldn't tell whether she'd been in love with him or not, it was likely they hadn't had much of a relationship, but he didn't really care. He had no interest in a dead-beat Dad anyway. His mother was the only family he needed.

 When they'd first moved to this little town, known as Angel's Haven, she had lied and said Kageyama's father had died before he was born and they had been married. He'd been two when they first arrived here, so nobody knew it was a lie. She didn't need the ridicule of being a single, un-wed mother.

He'd felt awful about costing his mother her job and tried to apologise, but she had told him that she didn't want to work for a bigoted company like that anyway. She was proud of her son, for whom he was, and said love had no boundaries.

 She had offered they move to another town, far away from here, but he didn't want to leave Hinata behind.

 But it turned out Hinata was the one who left him in the end.

 Not that Kageyama believed for a second that Hinata had skipped town because he was ashamed to be his boyfriend anymore. For the first few years of school life together, he had never once showed that he cared what people thought of him. He said he would have happily kissed Kageyama in the middle of class if he knew neither of them would get in trouble for it.

 'I'm never going to leave your side,' Hinata had whispered to him one night, as they lay intertwined in the sheets of Kageyama's bed, fingers interlaced, the pounding of their hearts the loudest things in the room. The kisses that had followed were soft and loving. 'I'm going to be with you, forever. I promise.'

 No one in this town knew Hinata. No one had ever bothered trying to get to know him. He'd just turned up one day, no family to speak of, and brought a 'curse' to the town. Some had even fled to the Reverend of the town and asked for him to be cast out, to call upon God to smite him, but the Reverend had said he was only a messenger for God and God would decide the boy's fate in the end.

 Many had praised the Reverend after Hinata had vanished, believing he must have asked God to get rid of the boy and God listened. Many donations flooded the church, which only pissed off Kageyama because he knew that money could go to better causes, like funding the crumbling orphanage on the edge of town or getting new improved technology for the school, as everything was old and out-dated.

 'That poor Tobio boy had such a bright future before that disgusting _thing_ arrived,' an old woman had said loudly to her friend outside a newsagent, as her friend ruffled through the paper that talked of Hinata's disappearance. 'Captain of a volleyball team during First school, could have gone to college with it, he was talented enough. I used to speak to him when he was little. Such a sweet little angel. I could always see God's love in those big blue eyes of his. That devil child tainted him!'

 It had made Kageyama's blood boil and he'd been thrown in prison for a night for punching an old lady in the face.

 He hated it when people spoke of him as if they had once known him. They had no idea what kind of person he was, before Hinata had come along, he had had next to no one. Nobody wanted to be friends with a bastard kid, even if he tried to tell them his father had died. Old ladies like her had only ever fed him religious rubbish, which he politely sat through because his mother had taught him to respect his elders; he soon learned, however, that respect was something to be earned and not just given because of age. Even when he was Captain of the volleyball team in his youth, the other members hadn't wanted to spend any time with him off of court and didn't like him very much on it either, as they thought he was a control freak who took the game too seriously. It wasn't his fault, he had to channel of his loneliness and anger into the sport and that showed through when he played. Sometimes he thought if he could make their team win, then the others would like him more. How could they speak so cruelly of Hinata when he was the only one who'd ever tried to get to know Kageyama, who refused to be put off by his quick-temper and snappy remarks- he was the only person who had ever really cared about him, aside from his mother.

 The police had been no use. He'd tried speaking to them, tried to ask who was in charge of the investigation to look for Hinata, but they'd laughed in his face and said there was no investigation and there wasn't going to be. They'd filed a missing persons report and that was that. He'd wanted to stay and argue but the police officers started poking fun at him and when one asked him if he was the 'post man or the letter box' he'd decided enough was enough and it was time to leave.  

 He couldn't gain access to Hinata's apartment either. The police had been to search there and came back saying that Hinata's name was never on the lease, there were no Mr. and Mrs. Hinata that were forwarding him money to pay rent and he would be arrested and charged if they ever caught him. There weren't even any files that proved a 'Shoyo Hinata' even existed and it was likely this boy had been hiding under a false identity, which had gotten Kageyama pulled in for questioning but he insisted he knew as little as they did and Hinata had never spoken about his past.

 More rumours spread and many people believed he had been some sort of juvenile on the run from the law.

 Kageyama had been left questioning everything he'd ever thought he'd known about his boyfriend. Hinata had lied to him, spoke about a family that lived overseas and that Kageyama would definitely get to meet one day, when they returned. Was Shoyo even his real name? It had him doubting whether Hinata's love had been real, and whether the sweet words he had spoken over the years had all been lies, but when he had taken off the feather pendant that Hinata had given him the first year they met, he suddenly felt reassured that Hinata's love had been genuine.

 There would have been no reason for Hinata to keep up a charade if he was going to gain nothing from it, or be abused and bullied because of it. He wouldn't have turned up at Kageyama's window every other night, with snacks and drinks and a stupid sports film for them to watch together. He wouldn't have kissed Kageyama in the same way, touched him, stopped everything just to look at him with those big dopey eyes of his.

 Maybe he had lied about his family because he was ashamed of them, perhaps he thought Kageyama would think badly of him for it. Perhaps they had all died and Hinata didn't want Kageyama to tip-toe around him. Maybe he was on the run from somewhere, which is why he had chosen a false identity, and now he'd had to flee because they'd found him? Perhaps he had kept it a secret from Kageyama so he wouldn't be dragged into some messy business.

 He couldn't be sure, but he'd decided that it didn't matter what life Hinata had lived before coming to Angel's Haven. What mattered was Hinata.

 Where was he, and was he safe?

 Despite wanting to throw on his backpack and set out on a hunt, his mother had said he had to finish High School first, since it was the law and she'd be the one who'd get thrown in jail if he just took off.

 So he did it for her. Another year in a place he considered worse than Hell.

 The bullying only got worse, no one dared attack him, but they hid his stuff, threw things at him, scrawled horrid things over his desk and tried their best to provoke him, but he eventually stopped fighting back. He'd started feeling numb, spending all his time staring at Hinata's empty desk. His heart wouldn't stop hurting and he bottled up all his emotions until he exploded and ended up smashing something up. Anything. The first thing he could get his hands on.

 Shattering the photo of him and Hinata had made him scream. His mother had run in to comfort him and he cried harder than ever before and refused to let her touch him. He pleaded every night for Hinata to come back, but he didn't.

 He was all alone.

 Graduating Karasuno High had meant nothing to him. He had achieved average grades, despite being smart enough to have topped every class, and had not bothered applying to any colleges. He wasn't planning on sticking around, he was determined to find out where Hinata was and what had happened to him, even if it took him a life time.

 Booing and cat-calls followed his name, and he'd kept his eyes front as he approached the podium and accepted his certificate, from a man who was very reluctant to shake his hand, which he later binned.

 If Hinata had been there with him, he might have enjoyed the day. Hinata would have loved it. The students had put on a festival, with cakes and balloons and stupid party games in the court yard. He imagined Hinata would have dragged him around to every stall, forced him to try as much food as possible and would have been his annoyingly loud self and even though Kageyama would have probably yelled at him, inside he would have felt such happiness to be finally free and able to leave this crap-hole of a town with the man he loved. They could have had a life together.

 'Maybe you should think about getting yourself a nice girlfriend,' an annoying, simpering-voiced teacher had said to him, when he was sat alone under a tree watching the festivities take place. She was crouching down to talk to him, as though she were speaking to a toddler. 'There are plenty of cute girls in your class-'

 'Get away from me.' Kageyama had given such a threatening stare that she'd jumped and backed away from him, before running off to get security. Sure enough, they had him kicked out. He was pretty thankful about it, he hadn't wanted to stay there any longer.

 'A whole year, Mum.' He'd said over dinner that night, pushing his food around his plate. He didn't have much of an appetite these days, but his mother always forced him to eat something to keep his strength up. She often said if he ever planned on going to search for Hinata, he'd need to be fit and healthy, which usually made him eat his dinner. 'I can't believe it's been a whole year.'

 'Have you spoken to the police?'

 'Yeah, they told me to stop bugging them. There are no new leads. No one has seen him, or rung up about him.' He smashed his rice ball up. The fork clattered on the table top as he put his head in his hands, trying to hold back the tears. 'I said I would look for him the moment I graduated, but I don't even know where to start. There is nothing for me to follow. No evidence at all.'

 'You'll find him, honey. God will help guide you.'

 'God isn't real!' Kageyama had screamed, throwing his plate on the floor where it smashed and food went skittering across the floor. Tears were rolling down his cheeks. 'Don't give me that bullcrap! You're as bad as them! How can you believe any of that bullshit when absolutely nothing good has happened to us? How can you sit back and accept a religion built on fear and hatred?'

 'My belief has nothing to do with anyone else's.' His mother said, getting up to pick up the broken shards on the floor.

 She never shouted at Kageyama whenever he had a surge of anger and broke something. She never looked disappointed in him. All she ever did was reply calmly to him and clean up the mess. He often got overwhelmed with guilt and would stop throwing a tantrum to help, but this time he didn't want to. He stormed upstairs and slammed his bedroom door, before picking up his waste paper bin and throwing it as hard as he could against the wall, where it left a crack in the cheap plaster.

 There was no God. This whole town was loony. Everyone here was brainwashed by some stupid belief because they were too close-minded, too scared to step into the real world and accept that they were the ones to blame for the choices they made. He couldn't abide people who looked to some mysterious man in the sky to atone for any wrong-doings they did. They couldn't be trusted. If they could get away with doing bad things by justifying it with - 'as long as I ask for God's forgiveness'- then they were the worst of all.

 An empty pin board sat above his desk. He'd planned to start collecting information about Hinata, hoping to solve the mystery by piecing clues together, but he'd not be able to get hold of a single shred of evidence that pointed in Hinata's direction. He'd rang more police stations across the country, asking them if they'd heard anything, asking them to search, but they said there was nothing more they could do. The missing persons report had been filed and was added to list of thousands of other people who had simply vanished.

 He'd set up a website with a photo of Hinata on the main page and a comment box beneath it, and had spread the link around to as many people as possible, hoping someone would drop a message. However, he had to take it down when floods of abuse started pouring in, as some of the kids from his school had found it, and decided to post comments about how they hoped he was dead and he was disgusting and how Kageyama should follow in his footsteps and end his own life.

 Sometimes he thought about  it, he couldn't deny that, but he never really wanted to go through with it, not with the thought in the back of his mind that Hinata was still alive, somewhere. How would Hinata feel if he did, one day, return to Angel's Haven to find all that was left of Kageyama was an urn on his mother's mantelpiece?

 As long as he had hope, he would keep on living. He'd figure it out one day. He was certain of it.

***

 A month after graduating, Kageyama received a post card in the mail. There was no name on it, no return address, not even any kind of written message. On the front was a quaint coffee shop, very Victorian-looking, with wooden beams and whitewashed walls, with a hanging wooden sign over the door that read 'The Sugar Cup'. The edges of the postcard were a sunset orange and there was swirly black writing in the bottom left corner that read 'Sunshine Harbour'.

 Of course, none of this was what had interested him. He had no idea where Sunshine Harbour was, other than suspecting it was costal.

 It was what was sellotaped to the back of the postcard, next to the neatly written address of his home town.

 A single black feather.

 In an instant, his heart froze. Then he jumped up from his desk chair, where he'd seated himself after he'd been down to collect the morning post, and he scrambled underneath his shirt, pulling out the black feather pendant he always wore around his neck.

 This had to be a sign from Hinata. Nobody else knew about this pendant or what it meant to Kageyama. He'd never shown anyone it, not even his mother. Only Hinata knew.

 'Sunshine Harbour,' he muttered to himself, flipping the postcard over to look at the front image again. Was this where Hinata was? Why had it taken him so long to get in contact with Kageyama? Why not write a note, why only send a feather?

 Unless he was worried it could be traced back to him, somehow. If Hinata was on the run, for reason's still unclear, then maybe this was the only way he could think of to attract Kageyama's attention to him without giving away his hiding place.

 The feather looked identical to his own. Hinata had said it was a crow's feather he'd found one day and thought it would be a cute present, since he didn't have much money to buy Kageyama real gifts.

 'You don't have to get me anything, dumbass.' Kageyama had said, but still put the feather pendant around his neck. It was a small feather, easy to hide beneath a shirt.

 'I wanted to,' Hinata beamed, his eyes big and bright. He stroked the edge of the feather for a moment. 'I want you to always wear it, so that whenever you're lonely or sad, you can look at it and think of me. Think of it this way, as long as you're wearing that, no one can ever hurt you because my love will always protect you. You'd be able to shower with it on, too, I think. It's waterproof.'

 'That's really corny.' Kageyama had scoffed and Hinata had pouted, but Kageyama sighed and said he would wear it as much as possible. He kept forgetting about it at first, but Hinata kept asking about it, so he'd started getting into a habit of wearing it, and before long his neck felt bare if he couldn't feel the string against his skin. After Hinata had vanished, he never ever took it off. It felt like it was the only thing left that he had and he didn't want to part from it for even a second.

 He flung himself down the stairs, two at a time, skidding to a halt in the kitchen where his mother was seated at the table, nursing a cup of coffee and looking as tired as she always did. Her raven black hair was in its usual ponytail, but it was messily done, like she'd rushed it. She was working two jobs now, both paying minimum wage, and she barely had any time for herself.

 It was the main thing that had stopped Kageyama from just getting up and going down the bus station the first day after he'd graduated, leaving her behind, all by herself in this town was too hard for him to do, but now he had this postcard and a clue as to where Hinata might be. She could go with him, if she wanted, and they'd find Hinata and could all go somewhere together- start a new life. His mother deserved that.

 'Do you know where Sunshine Harbour is?' Kageyama asked, making his mother jump. She had been in some kind of a daydream. She stared at him for a moment, her brown eyes wide.

 'I'm sorry, what did you say?'

 He held up the postcard. 'I got this postcard from a place called Sunshine Harbour. Do you know where it is?'

 'No, no, why would I know that?' His mother said quickly, getting up and bustling around the kitchen, putting away cups and dishes. She wasn't looking at him, which made Kageyama instantly suspicious, it was almost as though she were hiding something from him.

 'Mum-'

 'Oh Tobio, do you think you could bring the washing in for me? I think it's going to rain.'

 'Mum! What are you hiding? Do you know something I don't? Do you know something about Hinata?' He snapped, rounding on her and blocking her access to the kitchen sink. She blinked at him and cleared her throat. She looked jumpy. 'Tell me!'

 'I-It's nothing, I promise. I don't know anything about Hinata's disappearance.'

 'Stop lying to me!' Kageyama shouted, his face heating up. She backed away from him, her eyes brimming with tears. He felt awful for yelling at her, but he'd had enough of not knowing about his boyfriend and if his mother knew something, anything at all, that could help him, he needed to know.

 Miss. Kageyama let out a long sigh and took a seat at the table again. She stared out the window, not looking at her son. 'Honestly, Tobio, I don't know where Hinata is, and if he is in this... place, I don't want you going there.'

 Confusion swept through him and he approached the table slowly. 'What do you mean?'

 'Your father was from that town.' She said quietly. Kageyama raised an eyebrow at her.

 'So? Have you been there, then?'

 'Me? No, no, I couldn't-' She trailed off, her eyes glazing over as though she was remembering a distant memory. Kageyama slammed his hand onto the wooden surface, bringing her back to Earth. She shook her head at him. 'It's not a safe place, Tobio.'

 'Yeah, this little coffee shop looks really dangerous,' he said sarcastically, holding up the card. 'Mum, look, obviously Shoyo wants me to go there, that's why he sent me this postcard. For all I know, he could be in serious trouble! I have to help him! I have to try! So, please, if you know where this stupid town is, then tell me! I don't care if my Dad came from there, that has nothing to do with me. Why do you even care about that bastard? He abandoned you!'

 His mother got to her feet so quickly that the chair toppled over behind her. She looked cross, which wasn't something he was used to. 'Don't you ever speak about him that way! You don't know anything! I'm the one who had to leave him, I had to do it to protect you!'

 'What? What are you on about?'

 'I never told you this because I thought it would upset you,' she said, on the verge of tears. Her cheeks were flushed with pink. 'I guess you're old enough to know now. Your father was mixed up in... the wrong crowd. They didn't agree with his decisions and they wanted him dead. I had to leave to protect you, because they could have come after you to get to him. He said he'd come back to us, but he never did.'

 Kageyama watched her for a moment, unsure how to react to this news. Honestly, he still didn't really care. His father was an unknown mystery in his life that he wasn't interested in solving. The man had never returned, which meant he either didn't want to or he was dead, which would be another reason for Kageyama not to pry into the matter.

 'So, you're saying these people are from Sunshine Harbour? That was eighteen years ago. You can't assume they'd still be there, plus, they wouldn't even know who I am. I'm not going to cause trouble, I'm only going to search for Shoyo.'

 She slowed her breathing, calming herself down. She picked up her chair. 'You're not going to Sunshine Harbour.'

 'You're the one that said God would give me a sign, and here it is!' He waved the postcard in her face. 'I couldn't give a crap about whatever happened between you and my Dad. All I care about is my boyfriend. If he's dying, if he's hurt, he needs me and as much as I don't want to go against you, or hurt you, I'm going whether you like it or not. So either you can help me out, tell me how to get there safely and I can keep in touch with you, or I'm going to set off on my own and you can spend every day while I'm away wondering if I'm okay or not.'

 'You don't understand, Tobio-'

 'What don't I understand? Tell me!'

 Miss. Kageyama gritted her teeth and turned away from him. 'No, I can't.'

 'Why are you hiding things from me? Stop treating me like a child!'

 'Your father would-'

 'I don't care about my father! I care about Shoyo!' He kicked over the nearest chair. She was crying now. 'I'm going to start packing. I'm of age to travel by myself, so you can't stop me. I'll find it on my own.'

 He ran upstairs before she could stop him and locked his bedroom door behind him. Whatever business his father had gotten himself into eighteen or so years ago had nothing to do with him, those people wouldn't know who he was, even if they were still there, and he wouldn't go looking for trouble. He had taken his mother's maiden name, after all, so even using his real name wouldn't arouse suspicion. He only prayed nothing bad had happened to Hinata, but if he was able to send him a postcard, then something told him that Hinata must be fine, he must want Kageyama to go to him for a reason, maybe he had started a life there and wanted Kageyama to join him. Maybe he was ready to explain his disappearance and all the puzzle pieces would finally fall into place.

 There was a large rucksack under his bed that he used whenever he and Hinata went camping together. He had never been particularly fond of camping, he was quite a clean, orderly person, but Hinata loved spending time with him in the mountains or in the woods, lying under the stars together. Kageyama didn't know whether Hinata thought it was romantic or whether he liked to get away from Angel's Haven, somewhere free and open, with no one around to judge them. They couldn't be together in public, but surrounded by the trees, concealed deep in the forest, they could show their love to one another without fear of ridicule.

 Packing didn't take too long, he only needed the essentials- a few changes of clothing, his wallet and all the money from his piggy bank, which was enough for him to travel with, his toothbrush, hygiene products and the photo of him and Hinata, which he removed from the frame. He'd need it to show around the town whilst searching. He was already down the stairs, shoes on, ready to leave, after half an hour, but his mother appeared, blocking his path.

 'I'm going whether you like or not.' He started to argue but she raised a hand to silence him and pushed a wad of cash into his hands. He blinked at her, confused.

 'You'll need money. This is what I was saving for when you went to college, but, well, that never happened, so you might as well take it.'

 'You're letting me go? Why?' 

 'You're right, I can't stop you. You'll be gone at some point, regardless of what I try to do, so I'd rather know you were safe. I'll tell you how to get to Sunshine Harbour, but, please, keep to yourself. Don't trust the people in that town. If Hinata is calling you there, then there must be a reason, and I trust him enough to know that he would never try and put you in harm's way. Once you find him, please come home. We can leave this town and start a new life somewhere else.'

 His mother refused to let him leave right away, either. She dragged him into the kitchen and forced him to sit down for lunch with her, while she pulled out a map from a drawer somewhere in the house and pointed out the route her son would need to take to get to Sunshine Harbour, which was, as Kageyama had rightfully guessed, at the coast. She told him exactly which buses he would need to take and then how to walk the rest of the way, as there weren't any buses that actually ran directly into the town.

 'It's an uphill climb, so make sure you take plenty of water,' she said, pulling out several bottles from the fridge. 'The town is hidden behind some small mountains, but there's a passage through, which is why you don't really get any buses going there. Go straight to this place on your postcard, the Sugar Cup, it's attached to an inn so they'll give you a place for the night. If you set off today, it'll take you about two days to get there.'

 'I thought you said don't trust anyone.'

 'The owner of this place you can trust. Your father knew him.' She paused and just gazed at him. He frowned, feeling awkward. She placed a hand on his cheek and stroked at his hair with the tip of her fingers. 'I can't believe you're all grown up.'

 'Stop it,' he pulled away from her, feeling embarrassed. He got to his feet and slung the bag on his back. It was a little heavy, but he could manage. He looked down at his feet as he spoke. The realisation that he was leaving her behind had suddenly hit him and he was feeling bad about it. 'Thank you for letting me go. I'll come back, you know I keep my word.'

 'I know. You're stubborn like that.' She hugged him, which he allowed for a few minutes. 'Please, be safe, sweetheart.'

 'Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine. I can handle myself.' He insisted, starting to feel like the longer he delayed, the more his mother would cling before eventually changing her mind. He wouldn't put it past her to chain him up in his room so he couldn't leave. 'I'll ring you when I get there.'

 When he finally managed to free himself from his mother's clutches, after a lot more hugging and more safety warnings, Kageyama left the house and didn't look back. He held the postcard tightly in his hands and stared at the little coffee shop on the front, wondering if that's where he'd find Hinata, perhaps waiting for him over a cup of hot chocolate, with a huge goofy grin on his face, ready to share whatever adventure he'd been having this past year.

 Of course, Kageyama planned to knock the stuffing out of him when he did finally meet up with him again, but he was actually quite excited to see what life Hinata had been living without him and learn more about his mysterious boyfriend.

 As he made his way through the town, many of the locals stopped to watch him as he passed by. They started whispering behind their hands, peering at him without trying to hide it. Many cat-called after him, asking if he was leaving for good. Kageyama stopped dead in the middle of the street, a vein throbbing in his forehead. He couldn't start a fight with these people now, he couldn't waste time being locked up in a jail cell for the night. Their words didn't matter to him anymore, he wasn't going to see any of these people again. He'd already decided once he'd gotten on that bus and headed off, he never wanted to step foot in this town again. His mother could come to him, wherever he and Hinata would end up going.

 Letting all of his anger go, Kageyama continued on down the street, heading towards the bus station. His nerves were getting to him, it all seemed too sudden. Yesterday, he had no idea where to even start looking, and now, here he was, about to head off to meet up with Hinata after what felt like a lifetime apart. It almost didn't seem real.

 As he clambered onto the first bus that his mother had instructed he take, Kageyama found his hand going to the feather pendant at his neck. He took a seat near the back and rested his head against the window, watching the world go by while other people still boarded.

 This was his first step in uncovering the truth.

 What was lying in wait for him at Sunshine Harbour?

 He couldn't wait to find out.

 

 

 


	2. Sunshine Harbour

Sunshine Harbour was a little, costal town surrounded by small purple mountains and a lot of dense forest. The dark blue glistening sea that ran around half the length of the town stretched on for miles, disappearing into the horizon. There were many boats parked up at the pier, but none were out on the water today. From Kageyama's point of view, stood up high on the road that twisted its way through two mountains, he could see an eagle-eye view of all of the harbour, and he had to admit this town was breathtaking to look at.

 Every house was arranged in neat little rows or squares, the roads twisted and interlaced with each other, and there was plenty of greenery and wildlife to be seen. It looked almost undisturbed, he couldn't even see any cars roaming around the streets. Everything was peaceful.

 He had gotten talking to someone on the last bus he'd taken, which had stopped a short distance away from the mountains, at a rickety old bus stop, and they had asked him where he was heading. When he'd mentioned Sunshine Harbour, they had blinked at him and said they had never heard of the place. Kageyama had shown them the postcard and said he had never heard of it either, and it was apparently a remote town hidden beyond the mountains.

 The bus driver had been pretty concerned about Kageyama getting off the bus at that stop. He'd questioned him, saying there was nothing for miles and another bus wouldn't come this way for at least a week. Kageyama said it was fine, and he knew where he was going, and the bus driver had shrugged and sped off, leaving him alone on the roadside.

 His mother hadn't been lying about the uphill climb and he had to stop several times to take a seat and rehydrated himself. Passing through the mountains was eerie, it was so still and silent. He wasn't used to it. Angel's Haven, even though being a small town itself, was always full of life. He kept checking behind him, as though he felt he was being watched, but he never saw anything alarming. Many birds flew overhead, but they were quiet.

 It actually rather freaked him out just how still this town was. He'd made his way down the sloped road from the mountain, which took a while considering how high up he actually was, and when he'd reached the cobbled main streets, he found them all to be empty.

 This couldn't be a ghost town, he thought as he slowly began to head further in. It didn't look abandoned. He'd seen plenty of pictures of ghost towns, all of which looked decrepit and worn, unkempt and being claimed by nature. These houses and little shops all looked clean and well-cared for, many of which had fresh flowers growing in window sills.

 Kageyama glanced at his watch. It was only two in the afternoon. Where was everyone?

 Eventually, he decided that it wasn't worth worrying about for the time being and his main priority was to find this coffee shop and search for Hinata. He actually was starting to prefer being by himself, he had always been cautious about eye's looking at him, people whispering behind their hands. He felt almost free.

 Fishing the postcard out of his pocket, he scanned the front image for what felt like the millionth time. There was a large oak tree next to the shop, and a line of brightly-coloured houses in the distance. That didn't really help him much since there were a lot of trees and almost every building was a vivid colour.

 A crashing noise made him jump and he span round, his heart hammering in his chest, only to find a golden-coated fox rummaging through a knocked over metal bin. It paused, as though it sensed Kageyama staring it, and turned its head slightly to observe him. The moment Kageyama made any sort of movement (he had only been intending to turn away from it) the fox scarpered.

 After about twenty-five minutes of searching, with his stomach growling at him as he passed by a grocers, a bakers and a fishmongers (all of which had elaborate window displays so he couldn't actually see if there was anyone inside, but he didn't dare check), he finally found what he was looking for. It was almost in the centre of the town, a little off from the main square where there looked to be a town hall and a library, looking very old and dim compared to the luminous coloured buildings that surrounded it.

 The same little sign hung over the door that read 'The Sugar Cup', and there was a larger building that connected to the right side of it, one that had not been visible in the postcard photo. Kageyama had to guess this was the inn his mother had spoken about.

 His hands were shaking and he was rooted to the spot, staring at the door. Was Hinata inside this shop? Was he seated at a little wooden table, perhaps staring out the windows right at him, a big grin on his lips, just waiting for Kageyama to come inside? What if he got in there and found it as empty as the rest of this weird town?

 Breathing out, he took a great step forward and forced himself to move, even though his body was resisting. His brain was running over every scenario in his head, making him feel panicky. There was no point speculating what could or could not happen. There was only one way he was going to find out, and that was by entering The Sugar Cup.

 Upon setting foot inside, the sweet smell of coffee and cinnamon hit him straight away, causing his stomach to continue its protest. The coffee shop was very petite and quaint, with wooden floors and tables. There was a bar that ran along the opposite wall, with mismatched stools placed in front of it. A door reading 'Staff Only' was behind the bar, and another door on the right hand wall lead to the inn. Many photos of the pier, boats and other scenery from the harbour covered the walls, as well as many sweet, although rather cheesy, inspirational quotes.

 Kageyama's heart sank when he realised Hinata was not in there.

 At least it wasn't empty. Finally seeing some people made him feel a little better, wandering around outside by himself had started to give him the creeps.

 There were three people in the coffee shop: a barrister stood behind the bar, his back to Kageyama as he washed up glasses in a deep metal sink, and two customers seated at on the stools, talking nosily to one another. They did not turn to look when Kageyama entered, making the bell over the door tinkle.

 Sighing, he approached the bar and dropped his bag onto the floor before taking a seat. He made sure he was not seated directly beside the other two customers. One of them looked incredibly drunk and was waving a shot glass in the air.

 'Oh, come on, Suga! Give him another shot! He's freakin' hilarious!' The other man was laughing his head off, clutching at his stomach, watching his friend sway on his seat. He was a rough-looking bloke with a shaved head. When he noticed Kageyama looking at him, he stuck up his middle finger and pulled a mean expression. 'What you lookin' at, punk?'

 'I don't know, but I wish I wasn't.'

 'What did you say to me!?' The man began to rise from his seat but the barrister, the man known as Suga, whipped around and hit him on the head with a towel. He grumbled and sank back down, although still glaring at Kageyama, pulling a very unattractive face.

 'Tanaka, don't be rude to our guest, so stop making that face, and no, Noya's had enough to drink. Look at him, he's in a state.' He reached over and took the glass from Noya's grip. He let out a snort of protest, before letting his head fall onto the wooden bar with a heavy thud. He didn't bother getting back up. Tanaka patted him on the back, chuckling again. Suga placed the glass in the sink before moving over to Kageyama, a warm, welcoming smile on his rather beautiful face. 'Hello, it's nice to meet you. Welcome to the Sugar Cup, I'm the owner, Koushi Sugawara, but you can call me Suga. Are you looking for a place to stay for the night? That bag looks heavy.'

 Before Kageyama could say anything, the one known as Noya had lifted his head up and started hitting the bar with his fist. Suga glared at him, crossing his arms across his chest. 'Stop it, or I'll have to throw you out.'

  'Is- Is he old enough to be drinking?' Kageyama found himself asking, out loud rather than in his mind. Noya was quite a small fellow, he didn't look older than about sixteen or seventeen. He looked very displeased by Kageyama's comment.

 'What are you trying to say?!' He tried to get up off his stool but collapsed to the floor. Suga let out a sigh and moved round to help him up, seeing as Tanaka was too busy wiping away tears of laughter to bother. Noya was still trying to get to Kageyama, but couldn't walk a single step without wobbling dangerously. His eyes were out of focus. 'You come into _my_ town, you insult me and my good pal, Suga-'

 'He hasn't said a word to me, Noya.'

 'You're nothing but trouble,' Noya slurred, before collasping against Suga, who rolled his eyes and dropped him into the nearest chair, resting his head on the table. He gave Noya's ridiculously spiky hair a pat before moving back round the bar to continue his talk with Kageyama.

 'I'm terribly sorry about that. He's a pain when he drinks. He is legal, by the way, before you think about calling the cops on me,' Suga chuckled, smiling. He gave off such a pleasant, affectionate aura. This couldn't be the guy his father had known, though, he was only in his early twenties, Kageyama had to guess, although his light silver hair could give the impression of old age. 'Yes, anyway, were you looking for a room for the night?'

 'Uh, yeah, I guess. I'm actually here searching for someone.' Kageyama replied, digging into his bag to retrieve the photo of him and Hinata. Tanaka, who was nursing a pint of beer, was peering over with some interest and Kageyama was resisting the urge to tell him to bugger off. He handed the photo over and he saw Suga's eyes widen slightly.

 This irritated him. He'd seen that look before, whenever someone realised he and Hinata were a gay couple. He inwardly groaned, praying he would be able to find Hinata as fast as possible and get away from anyone in this town that was willing to judge them.

 'What makes you think he's here?' Suga asked, putting the picture down. Tanaka pulled it over to him to have a closer look. 'He's your friend?'

 'Boyfriend,' Kageyama corrected him quite bluntly, his fists balled up. 'He went missing over a year ago and I had no clues about what had happened to him until... here, he sent me this postcard. The feather on it is identical to the one I wear around my neck. Look, he gave it to me. Only he knows about it, so no one else would send me a feather like this. It must mean he's calling me here, I figured he'd be in this coffee shop, since that's the image on the cover, unless he's staying in your inn?'

 Suga was staring at the postcard, but Kageyama couldn't read his expression. Tanaka snatched it out of his hands and frowned at the feather, but before he could comment, Suga began making a clatter with cups and saucers. He looked quite saddened, was silent for some time, and eventually he shook his head. He began pouring Kageyama a cup of tea. 'I'm really sorry, but I haven't seen Hinata in years.'

 Kageyama was taken back. This guy knew Hinata? How? Why? A million questions ran through his head. 'You know him?'

 'I knew him.' Suga pushed the tea cup towards him, offering him a little jug of milk and a few packets of sugar, with a kind gesture of 'it's on the house'. 'He grew up here, did he never tell you? He moved away about seven-ish years ago, when he was still a kid. Haven't seen him since, I'm afraid. He's not staying in this inn. I'm really sorry to disappoint you. Are you certain it's him who sent this postcard?'

 'It has to be. Who else would?' Kageyama glared into his drink, trying to ignore the dull ache in his chest. What was Hinata playing at? What was he up to? If he wanted to bring Kageyama to Sunshine Harbour, why wasn't he waiting for him somewhere or leaving a trail of clues?

 'He's not gotten any bigger,' Tanaka snorted, pushing the photo and postcard back to Kageyama. 'Always a shrimp.'

 'He must have grown somewhat since he was twelve.' Suga said and Tanaka shrugged.

 'You knew him as well?'

 'This isn't a very large town,' Suga responded, pressing down at a crease in his black apron. 'The Hinata family was quite well known, when they used to live here. Shoyo's father was the mayor, at one point.'

 'Really? What happened to them?' Kageyama couldn't understand why Hinata had never told him about any of this. Even if something bad had happened to his family that made it hard for him to talk about, he could have told him little details, like what his parents used to do and where he used to live and what his life was like, once upon a time, rather than keeping him completely in the dark about everything.

 'Suga, I'm not sure about-' Tanaka began to speak but Suga raised a hand to silence him. He gave Tanaka a stern look.

 'Perhaps you should take Noya and go do something useful,' he was giving Tanaka a wide-eyed stare which made Kageyama suspicious. What were they up to? What were they hiding? This wasn't normal behaviour. 'You should check out that thing I was concerned about the other day.'

 He turned back to Kageyama, smiling again, although it seemed quite forced this time.

 'Sure about what?' Kageyama narrowed his eyes. Tanaka shrugged again and downed his beer before sliding from his seat. He gave Suga a nonchalant wave before throwing the snoozing Noya over his shoulder and exiting the coffee shop, leaving Suga and Kageyama alone. 'What's he going on about? What thing? Where's he going?'

 'It's nothing, he just knows Shoyo never liked people speaking about his family, that's all. And there's a hole in the wall of the inn, around the back, that I've been asking them to fix. They can both be so terribly lazy.' Suga began to clean up the mess the two boys had left behind. He wouldn't make eye contact with Kageyama. A vein was going in his forehead again, this barrister had started to act funny with him ever since he realised he was Hinata's boyfriend. He was so sick of it.

 'Maybe I should find somewhere else to stay.' He pushed away his un-drunk tea and began to get to his feet, but Suga waved him down.

 'No, no, don't be silly. There's no other inns in this town, anyway. I can tell you about Hinata's family, if you'd really like to know.'

 'I would.'

 'His parents were both killed,' Suga sighed and Kageyama felt his heart stop. Hinata had kept such a terrible loss in his life from him, he understood it must be a difficult thing to deal with, but he had continued to lie to him and speak about parents that no longer existed, and how one day Kageyama would be able to meet them. Why would he do that? Surely he knew that at some point in time, if they stayed together for the rest of their lives, he would have to come clean and reveal the truth. He didn't understand his motives behind it. 'It was the reason he and Natsu left town, they couldn't handle it here. It's why I'm quite concerned why you'd think he came back here, he never wanted to come back.'

 'How did they die? And who is Natsu?'

 Suga looked quite uncomfortable and shuffled on the spot. He scratched at the back of his neck. 'Oh, maybe if Hinata hasn't told you all of this, it's not my place to-'

 'Tell me.' Kageyama said firmly. 'I need to know. If you think Hinata's worst nightmare would be returning to the town where he lost his parents, then why would he be sending me this postcard? Why would he come back here or want to bring me here? I have to figure it out. For all you know, he purposely sent me this so I would come to this coffee shop and talk to you. You could have the answers I'm looking for.'

 'You do realise that's the only postcard Sunshine Harbour sells, right?' Suga tried to point out but Kageyama scowled at him. He raised both hands and sighed again. 'Ok, ok, I'll talk. If something has happened to Hinata, I'd like to know myself. I was fond of him, when he was a kid. He was always full of energy, zipping around all the time.'

 Kageyama took a sip of his tea, but found it was now lukewarm and he pushed it away again. Suga noticed and set about making him a fresh cup while  he spoke. 'Hinata's father used to be the mayor here, before he died. His mother was just a stay-at-home mum, having two young children was very time consuming.'

 'Natsu was his sibling? A sister?'

 'Yeah, she's a little younger than Hinata,' Suga handed him his tea. 'They looked like twins though, same eye colour, same hair. She was just as loud as he was, too. It was unfortunate what happened to their family, they had such a happy little life here, but being in that position of power can get you get enemies.'

 'I don't understand. This town is tiny. It doesn't look like a place for gang members and thugs.'

 Suga pulled a face. 'There's a lot you don't know about this town. It's best you don't ask questions and keep your head down while you're here. I'd recommend you stay in the inn as much as possible, and don't go out at night.'

'Why?'

 'Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, after his parents died, when Hinata was almost twelve, he and Natsu just up and left. I was very concerned, they were just children, but there wasn't much I could do about it. They left a note saying they no longer wanted to live here, but you say you don't know Natsu... I wonder what happened to her? Did he never speak of her?'

 'Not a word.' Kageyama was even more irritated. Hinata had a sister and he had kept that a secret too. Just how much had he hid from him? Why had she not come to live in Angel's Haven with him? He arrived when he was thirteen, so if she was younger than him, she would have needed some kind of supervision or carer, unless they had family elsewhere she'd ended up staying with? Then why would Hinata had moved on by himself, why would he choose to hide out in a stolen apartment? How could a thirteen-year-old even manage to get away with it all? Nothing made sense.

 'I don't know what to tell you. I have no idea what happened to them after they left, well, until now.' Suga rubbed at his chin and then jumped, as though he'd just been electrocuted. 'I just realised I never asked for your name! I'm so sorry! How rude of me!'

 'Tobio Kageyama,' he held out his hand but Suga didn't shake it. He made a display of dropping one of the cups and swore to himself, rushing to get a dustpan and brush. Kageyama felt his jaw twitch. Was this person so homophobic they didn't even want to touch a queer person?

 'I'm so clumsy,' Suga laughed to himself as he began to sweep up. 'It's very nice to meet you, Kageyama. Or do you prefer your first name?'

 I'd rather _you_ didn't address me at all, Kageyama thought bitterly but just shook his head.

 A pattering sound coming from outside told Kageyama that it had started raining. Water droplets were hitting against the windows and the colouring in the shop had dimmed now that the sun was hidden behind dark grey clouds. Suga didn't seem very pleased by this. 'It looks like there might be a storm. We'll definitely need to put you up for the night- or do you plan to stay longer?'

 'I'm staying until I find Hinata.' Kageyama said, gulping his tea. 'I have plenty of cash.'

 'Oh no, I couldn't accept your money-'

 The teacup shattered as Kageyama slammed it down. Suga was startled. Kageyama had let his temper get the better of him. 'What's your problem? You don't think I can't tell you're acting weird around me? Do you hate gay people that much? I'd rather sleep in the rain than under your roof!'

 To his surprise, Suga started to laugh. He handed Kageyama the dustpan and brush to clean up the mess he'd made and moved around the bar, heading towards the door that lead to the inn. 'I'll go get the book and write you up. I'll put you up in Room 9, there's an en-suite and plenty of hot water, so feel free to have a shower. I provide fresh towels daily and you can always contact room service if you need anything else, the desk is manned twenty-four seven. I noticed your stomach has been rumbling quite a lot, feel free to use our dining room as much as you want, food is served buffet style so just help yourself.'

 Feeling very confused about Suga's reaction, Kageyama set about cleaning up the broken shards of the cup he'd broken and tipped them into a bin in the corner. He was wiping down the bar with a wet rag when Suga returned, carrying a heavy, leather-bound book, which he dropped on the table where Noya had been seated. He took a seat and pulled it open, scratching Kageyama's name down under the listings for Room 9.

 'Oh, do remind me,' Suga said, with an air of amusement in his voice. He pulled a key out of the front pocket of his apron and held it out to Kageyama, who took it after a moment's pause. It was a very old fashioned key, big and bronze and quite rusty. 'I would very much like to introduce you to _my_ boyfriend later this evening.'

  _Huh?_

 'Are you making fun of me?' Kageyama narrowed his eyes, clenching the key in his fist. Suga shook his head and closed the book, leaning back in his chair to survey his new guest.

 'Of course not, I honestly didn't mean to come across as strange to you, I swear. I'm terribly sorry for laughing at you, but I found your comments about being homophobic quite funny, considering I've been dating Daichi for a good couple of years now. He runs the night shift, he's sleeping at the moment.'

 Instantly, Kageyama felt bad about yelling. He apologised but Suga waved a hand at him and got to his feet. 'I understand, it's hard to feel accepted sometimes. I won't let anyone say anything negative to you while you're staying under my roof.'

 'Why won't you accept my money, then?'

 'Any friend - or boyfriend - of Hinata's is a friend of mine, and I am concerned about him if you say he's been missing. I want you to find him, so I'm willing to let you stay here.'

 Kageyama stammered his thanks.

 Suga walked over and picked up Kageyama's bag, slinging it over his shoulder, before instructing him to follow. 'I'll take you to your room.'

 The coffee shop lead into the lobby of a wooden-panelled inn, with plush red carpet and a wooden staircase leading to the upper floors. There was a reception desk, currently empty, where Suga replaced the guestbook. Another door led to the basement, which Suga said was the room he and Daichi shared, there was an archway that led through the dining hall, which was filled with quite a number of people, all chattering to each other, and there was a glass-panelled exit door.

 As Suga led him upstairs, Kageyama questioned him about a few things. 'Did your Dad know my Dad then? Or your Mum, I guess?'

 'Huh? What?'

 'Oh, sorry, my Mum said my Dad used to live in this town and he knew the owner of this inn. You look about twenty-something, so I figured it was a parent of yours. I never knew him, so I can't tell you his name or what he looks like. The only thing I know is we have the same eyes.'

 'Ah, yes, I'm twenty-one, by the way, and if your father did once live here, I don't remember him. My parents aren't around anymore, either, so I can't ask. Sorry to disappoint, if you were hoping to learn about him.'

 'No, no, I don't really care about him. I was just wondering if he knew Hinata's family, and if he had gotten mixed up in the same people that killed them. My mother said she had to leave him when she was pregnant with me because of these people. You don't think that's where Hinata could be?'

 Suga shook his head and stopped outside a oak door with a bronze 9 on it. He nodded at Kageyama to unlock it and they let themselves into the room. It was spacious, with the same carpet as the wall, a patchwork-quilted double bed, a desk and a wardrobe, along with a little, very-clean bathroom. Suga dropped Kageyama's bag onto the bed before responding. 'I'd check the records for you to find out what happened to your father, but if you have no name to give me, I can't really help. I'll see what I can do, if he did know the Hinata's then I might be able to figure it out, if you want to know. As for Hinata, I can't see why those people would have gone after him after eight years-'

 'Wait, eight years? My Dad had trouble _eighteen_ years ago...'

 'Ah, perhaps he didn't know the Hinata's then.'

 'Was it the same group? Are they still around?'

 'What? No, not anymore. This a peaceful town.'

 Something told Kageyama that Suga was lying to him, but he didn't want to push it any further. He needed to follow his mother's advice and keep his head down and not ask questions. Suga obviously didn't want to tell him the truth and pushing wouldn't do him any good, so he might as well act like nothing was wrong and go searching by himself.

 He'd go tonight, since that's when Suga had said not to go wandering off. If this wasn't the man his father had known, then Kageyama couldn't trust him. He wanted to ask what had happened to Suga's parents, and if they too had gotten involved in something they shouldn't have, but he felt like he'd be prying too much and he didn't know how sensitive Suga would be to the topic.

 It took a while to get Suga to leave the room, as he wanted to know if Kageyama was completely satisfied with the room, whether he needed anything at all, kept trying to show him how the phone worked to ring reception and how the bathroom appliances worked, but Kageyama insisted several times everything was just fine and he wanted to take a nap. 

Kageyama sunk onto his bed and pulled his mobile phone from his bag, which he'd had switched off.

 He tried to ring his mum, but he couldn't get any signal.

 Sighing, he tossed it onto the bedside table, telling himself to do it when he got outside, thinking the signal in the inn was probably terrible. He'd forgotten to ask about wi-fi.

 Soon enough, he dozed off, after being exhausted from very little sleep over the past two days, and when he awoke, night had fallen and the rain was heavier than before, the wind howling and rattling at his window.

 Not that he was going to let this stop him from going out to look for Hinata.

 The locked window, on the other hand.

 Infuriated, he pulled on a thick grey hoody and stashed a torch from his bag in his pocket, making his way downstairs. He'd been hoping the reception would be empty, but Suga was seated behind the desk, reading a cooking magazine. He looked up when Kageyama approached.

 'Going somewhere?'

 There was a sign on the door to the coffee shop that read 'CLOSED'. This meant the only way out was through the inn's exit, but there was no way Suga would let him step outside. He could hardly use the excuse of 'wanting some fresh air' when it was thundering outside.

 Irritated, but doing his best to hide it and look nonchalant, Kageyama attempted a smile, which he knew probably looked forced. Suga didn't make any comments about it and grinned back. 'Just wanted to get some food.'

 'Help yourself.' Suga said, returning to his magazine.

 The dining room was just as busy as it had been when he'd first passed by, but he found an empty table to seat himself at. He kept feeling eyes on the back of his head, but when he looked around, the people turned away again. Why were they staring at him? Did they know he was a stranger?

 Surely, for these people to be staying in this inn, they must be tourists too?

 Tanaka and Noya were in here, stuffing their faces with food, seated next to a large guy with his hair pulled back into a bun. Kageyama watched them for a moment, wondering what it was Suga had sent them to do- had it really just been a maintenance thing? Was he over thinking it? They'd given Kageyama curious glances when he'd entered, like they knew something he didn't. 

 Deciding to put that to the back of his mind, because he didn't want to get stressed about it, knowing no good would come from asking them, he stared sulkily out of the window at the inky sky and wondered where Hinata was right now. They could be metres apart from each other and he would have no idea.

 A flash of gold caught his eye. He moved closer to the window, pressing his nose against the cold glass.

 That stupid fox from before was running down the street, soaked to the skin. It disappeared around a corner and Kageyama sighed, getting up to help himself to some food. Hot soup would do him some good right now.

 Tomorrow he would start his official search for Hinata.

 The sooner he could get out of this town, the better.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK SO  
> I know I said I wouldn't write anymore of this until I'd finished the last chapter of The Young Crow Does Not Know  
> but I was in the mood for it soooo  
> I will get round to the last chapter I SWEAR 
> 
> I just like ~~ mystery ~~


	3. A Peaceful Town

When Kageyama woke the following morning, the sun had just started to rise behind the mountains, casting the little costal town in a warm orange glow. He stared down at the empty square, watching the shadows move across the buildings as the sun continued its descent into the sky, wondering where the rest of his day was going to lead him.   

 His dreams had upset him, causing him to wake with a start. He'd dreamt that he found Hinata's body, and that the whole town was in on it, and then they all threw him into the ocean to drown. The image of Hinata, lying crumpled and broken, pained him too much and he had to force himself to stop thinking about it.

 Hinata wasn't dead. He was in this town... somewhere. He had to be.

 Deciding his best option would be to sneak out while everyone else was still asleep, as he didn't need Suga questioning him, he changed his clothes, brushed furiously at his teeth and pulled on his shoes before making his way to the lobby.

 Thankfully, it was empty. He left out a sigh of relief but had barely made it to the door when a cheerful voice greeted him with 'Good morning.'

 Whipping around, he found Suga entering the lobby from the basement door, looking fresh-faced and well-slept. His hair was damp and sticking to his forehead. 'You should make use of the shower in your room, Kageyama. It's an excellent way to wake yourself up and prepare for the day.'

 'Uh, yeah. Later. I was just going to go look around.' He glanced at his watch. It was half-five in the morning. Why was Suga up this early? Didn't he say his boyfriend ran the night shift- unless he'd been lying about a boyfriend? 'While it's still early and there's no one around. Although, does this town ever get busy? It was completely dead yesterday.'

 'Ah, well, everyone stays inside on a Sunday.' Suga said, walking over to Kageyama and steering him into the dining room by his shoulders. It was empty apart from Noya, who was asleep, slummed over a table. More shot glasses told him that he'd been drinking again. Suga sighed but didn't pay much attention to his slumbering friend and forced Kageyama into a seat.

 'Why?'

 'It's God's day.' Suga explained, heading over to the buffet to plate up some bacon, eggs and sausages for both of them. 'Everyone is either in church or at home, resting.'

 Kageyama's body felt tense. Another religious town? Did no one in this country see sense?

 'It's not a big thing, don't worry about having to stay indoors, it's just customary here.' Suga placed the food down in front of Kageyama and took the seat next to him. 'Although, I would recommend you stay within the central area of Sunshine Harbour, around the inn. Not just on Sunday's, just in general.'

 'And why should I do that?' Kageyama narrowed his eyes, wondering whether to accept this food or not. Seeing as Suga had started tucking into his own, Kageyama decided to follow suit, deciding that if Suga had wanted to kill him, he could have easily done it in the night while he was sleeping. He'd not eaten properly for a while and the sausages tasted like heaven in his mouth.

 Suga chewed his bacon for a moment before answering, as though he was thinking about a response. 'I don't want you to get lost.'

 'It's not that big of a town.'

 'You'd be surprised how easy it is to lose your way here. Just to be on the safe side, don't venture too far out. I can always get someone to accompany you- Noya might be out of the question but I'm sure Tanaka...' He trailed off, considering it. He shook his head. 'Maybe not Tanaka. He's a little aggressive, I suppose. Asahi, perhaps? He's very mild-mannered. I'm sure you'd have no problems with him-'

 'Thank you for your concern, I appreciate it, but I'm perfectly fine by myself. I promise I'm only going to wander around the main area, I won't go near the forest or anything. It's a beautiful town, it'd be a shame to miss out on sight-seeing being cooped up in here.' Kageyama said what he knew Suga wanted to hear. He wasn't sure if Suga would believe him or not, and suspected he may get tailed by someone, but he'd throw them off if that was the case. He wasn't going to look for trouble, he just wanted to see if he could find any clues, perhaps ask around about Hinata and find people that knew him or his family. He was interested about what had happened to Natsu, he thought that maybe if he could find her (or at least contact her), she could lead him to Hinata.

 He ate his breakfast faster than he would have liked to and he felt a bit sick, but he didn't care. He pushed the plate away and got up, thanking Suga for the meal, and said he was going to go out now.

 'Alright then. Have fun.'

 Was that it? Suga wasn't going to try and stop him?

 It didn't seem right.

 Despite it being only just six a.m., the weather was pleasant. It was mildly cool, with the smell of rain water from last night and sea salt mingling in the air. Kageyama found it made a decent change to what he was used to back in Angel's Haven, which he'd often described as smelling of a mix of lavender and cat piss.

 Unsure of where to head to first, he went back to the street that he'd seen the baker's on. Asking around in shops would be his best place to start, he guessed.

 Only, none of them were open this early.

 Smacking himself in the head for being stupid, he decided to just kill two hours by wandering around. He walked down street after street, staring blankly at the little houses and interesting shops, but soon become quite bored of this. There wasn't much in the shopping area. A signpost pointed further out, showing directions to a school, a church and a cemetery.

 Maybe Hinata's parents were buried there.

 Glancing over his shoulder to check he wasn't being followed, Kageyama began to walk the winding cobbled path that took him towards the cemetery, but found it blocked half way by the golden fox. It wasn't paying him much attention, it was lying in a patch of sunlight on its back, eyes closed.  

 Worried he would startle it, unsure whether it was friendly or not, he crept a little nearer, hoping to edge round it. However, when he got too close, the fox swung onto its front and began to hiss at him, its fur standing on end. Kageyama could see it had a lot of very sharp little teeth.

 'Ok, ok, I'm going. I'm not going to hurt you.' He moved backwards, his hands raised in front of him. Eventually, the fox settled back down again.

 Feeling grumpy, Kageyama went and sat on a bench, glaring at the resting fox. He rubbed at his chin, considering if it would be too cruel to throw some rocks at it to try and scare it away.

 Leaving the fox to kip, he decided he'd head down to the pier instead. He couldn't be bothered to fight a wild animal this early in the morning.

 It was his first time seeing the sea. He'd seen it in photos and on the television, but standing in front of it really took his breath away. Had Hinata enjoyed this view as a child? Had he swam in that ocean with his little sister? Kageyama wished he knew. He wished Hinata had shared more with him and trusted him with knowledge of his past. He wished he could be stood hand-in-hand with him, watching the sunrise over the rippling water every morning, happy and content and together.

 He found himself sitting at the end of the pier for some time, just contemplating what life could have been like if Hinata hadn't vanished. It was depressing, he had thought many times, having to delve into fantasies and daydreams because he wasn't satisfied with the real life he was living. He had to tell himself it was only temporary, that it wouldn't last forever.

 'Are you going to swim?' A female voice came from behind him, making him jump. He twisted his head around and found two young ladies stood near him on the pier, wearing tiny little bikinis. He awkwardly averted his gaze. He had no interest in women but he knew better than to stare.

 'No, no, I was just ... thinking.'

 'You should swim with us.' The littler one said. She was very petite, with messy blonde hair and big eyes. She was smiling in such a goofy fashion, Kageyama couldn't help but be reminded of Hinata.

 The other girl was more serious looking. She was pulling her raven black hair into a ponytail and wasn't paying him much attention. Without a single word, she walked to the end of the pier and dived off, disappearing under the surface of the water with a splash that soaked Kageyama's shoes. The water was freezing, but it didn't seem to bother the dark-haired girl, who'd just bobbed back up to the surface and was watching him with startling blue eyes.

 He jumped up, moving backwards, and the blonde girl took his arm. 'Swim! It's fun!'

 'No, I have to go somewhere.' He wrenched his arm free, barely allowing her to touch him. She was pouting.

 'Suit yourself.' She shrugged before canon-balling over the edge and hitting the water, making an even bigger wave than her friend.

 Kageyama didn't hang around to watch them swim. It was nearing eight o'clock which meant the shops would start opening and he'd be able to ask around.

 It was easier said than done, however, seeing as no one wanted to speak to him.

 The first place he'd gone was the bakers and when he'd shown the photo of Hinata and himself and said he was looking for his missing boyfriend, the shopkeeper had looked appalled and shooed him out of the shop, saying he didn't permit _'his kind'_ there. Angry, Kageyama had wrecked his bread display in the window and had to be chased away with a broom.

 Furious, he'd ended up snapping at the fishmonger, who acted funny with him the moment he stepped through the door and when he was told to leave and wasn't welcome, he'd thrown a salmon from the display at the man's head.

 Could news have spread that he was gay? If this town was religious, then it would make sense why everyone was shunning him. He didn't believe Suga had a boyfriend, he suspected he was just lying to him to get him to stay in the inn - but why?

 What did he want Kageyama for? 

 Unless someone was after Hinata? Had Hinata fled because those 'people' -whomever they were- were after him? Was the whole town part of it? Did Suga want Kageyama to find Hinata so that he could kill him?

 His head hurt. He didn't know who to trust.

 So many theories and scenarios were rushing through his head and he couldn't piece any of them together. Nothing made sense.

 No matter how many people he asked, no one would give him answers. The ones that did speak to him, although very briefly and stood at a distance, said they didn't know where Hinata was. Some said they'd known him as a child, others said they'd never heard of him at all.

 This was only a fair few, however. The majority of the people he tried to approach fled from him with panic in their eyes.

 Shouting profanities at them didn't really help the situation much. He was only making himself look worse.

 'Why did you send me that postcard, Shoyo?' He muttered to his knees. He was sitting on a bench in the town square, opposite the inn and the coffee shop. 'What do you want me to do?'

 'Coffee?'

 Kageyama clutched at his chest. He felt like if another person in this town snuck up on him and gave him a fright, he was going to have a heart attack.

 Suga was stood in front of him, holding a Styrofoam cup. Kageyama accepted it and Suga took that as an invitation to sit down next to him. He was wearing a green knit sweater that looked too big for him. 'You seem down.'

 'I don't understand why Shoyo sent me that postcard. It has to mean something.'

 'Hmm. Possibly.' Suga yawned and stretched his arms over his head. 'I guess asking around didn't help, huh?'

 'Everyone in this town looks at me like I'm something disgusting on the bottom of their shoe. No one would give me a straight answer, most of them ran away from me! I'm this close to punching someone.'

 'Ah, it's not your fault.'

 'What do you mean by that?' Kageyama put the coffee on the floor. It was black, so he knew he wouldn't like it. The milkier, the better.

 Suga sighed. 'Look, I didn't want to tell you this because I thought it might frighten you, and I didn't need you panicking. The reason I don't want you going out at night or wandering off too far on your own is because there is a murderer in this town. There aren't really police here, more of a neighbourhood watch, meaning we have to look out for each other. It's likely the townsfolk here are suspicious of you because you're a new face and everyone's on high alert.'

 'A murderer?' His mind flashed back to his dream. Hinata's lifeless body. 'Who died?'

 'Calm down, calm down, it wasn't Hinata, if that's what you're thinking. I would have told you if that was the case. Girls have been going missing and ending up dead. It's really awful.'

 Kageyama pulled a face. 'If it's girls they're after, I should be fine.'

 He hadn't meant to sound so uncaring. He was bothered by it, but he had a habit of just saying what was on his mind. Suga didn't seem offended.

 'Just because it's been females so far, doesn't mean they won't change their mind. You have to be careful. I don't want you to get hurt.'

  'Well, it's good to know everyone here thinks I'm a killer. I'm surprised you let me stay in your inn.'

 'I told you, any friend of Hinata's is a friend of mine. He'd never date a murderer.'

 'How would you know who he would date? You knew him when he was about eleven. Do you really have that much faith in a kid you once knew? Nobody stays the same as they grow up.'

 'I should be getting back to the shop. Noya will be at the drinks again if I'm not there to stop him.' Suga said, brushing off Kageyama's last comment. He got to his feet, bid farewell before Kageyama could ask him anything else, and headed back across the square. Kageyama watched him go, chewing at his tongue.

That man was hiding something about Hinata, he just knew it. But what?

 A glimpse of gold attracted his attention. The fox was walking down the side of the street, stopping occasionally to sniff at something on the ground. When it took a turning down an alley, Kageyama jumped to his feet and ran in the direction he'd gone earlier that day. He could make it to the cemetery now that the fox had moved and didn't pose as a threat.

 As he passed by the inn, he paused. He went around the back and began examining the wall. There was nothing wrong with it and it certainly didn't look like anything had been patched up. This meant his suspicions about Suga were correct, he was definitely hiding something from him.

 What had he sent those two boys to do?

 'Would it be worth questioning him? He can't lie if I have proof.' Kageyama muttered under his breath as he took the path leading to the cemetery. It moved away from the main area of buildings and into a wooded-clearing, the trees overhead blocking out a lot of the light, which came in slithers as it found gaps in the leaves.

 Crows were cawing in the distance and it sounded like there was running water nearby. The path got narrower and more leaf-strewn, and the surrounding trees got denser. He wondered if the cemetery was located in the forest, but it wasn't long before he'd found it.

 There was a large, ancient-looking church at the far end of the cemetery, but it was closed. The cemetery itself was rather small compared to what he was used to, and all of the tombstones looked centuries old. Most of them were either broken, worn away or covered in ivy and moss.

 Graveyards always sent shivers down his spine. They were so silent and eerie. He was trespassing among the dead and he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him, but he never saw anything, no matter how many times he glanced around. Telling himself to stop being so paranoid, he focused on searching for Hinata's parents.

 Finding the Hinata graves made him feel somewhat better, even though he was saddened that story about Hinata's parents was true. It meant that he had not lied about his name and he really was called Shoyo.

 'They really need to take better care of these tombstones,' Kageyama huffed, wiping the moss off of Hinata's father's grave. The weather must have eaten away at the rock, it didn't look very expensive, just ordinary stone. There was nothing but their names carved into the stone- no date of birth or death, no information about them or how they died.

 Although, he thought, scratching his chin, did they put the details of death on gravestones? No, he was being stupid, they didn't do that. That'd be morbid.

 Kneeling down in front of the graves, he put his hands on his knees and let out a low breath. He felt so stupid talking to rock and dirt, but he felt like he needed to. 'I would have liked to have met both of you. Whenever Shoyo spoke of his parents, he spoke very highly of you. You would have been proud of him, even if he is a massive idiot. I will find him, I promise. Your daughter too, whatever may have happened to her.'

  A cracking noise made his head snap up. He twisted his head, trying to hear better and when another snapping noise followed, he got into a crouched position and shuffled around the back of Hinata's mother's tombstone and peered over the top.

 Someone was there. Had someone followed him or was he being paranoid? He was hoping a little old lady would totter on past, but when nothing but silence greeted him he began to panic.

 He had to run for it and get back to the inn.

 Setting off at a sprint, Kageyama ran the length of the graveyard and had just reached the gates when someone came crashing out from the trees. He yelped and tried to turn back, but strong arms wrapped around him and threw him against the iron fencing, where he hit the back of his head against the metal, making his head spin and his vision blur.

 The man in front of him was a huge fellow, definitely over six-feet and built like a brick house. He had Kageyama by the collar and was hoisting him to his feet, lifting him off the ground so his toes were scraping the dirt.

 Kageyama grabbed hold of his wrists, trying to wrench this strangers arms away, digging in what little nails he had. The man threw him again and his back smacked against a gravestone, winding him.

 Breathing again hurt. It was icy cold and made his lungs ache.

 It was seconds before the attacker was on him again, lifting him from the ground as though he weighed nothing at all and was flinging him around like a ragdoll. His arm scraped against the rocky floor and left a stinging pain.

 'Get. The. Fuck. Away. From. Me.' Kageyama growled through gritted teeth, wobbling to his feet. He held his hands up, ready to fight back.

 The man charged at him and he moved quickly out of the way, causing the attacker to skid to a halt. Kageyama used this opportunity to run, as he knew he wasn't strong enough to take on this human giant. He'd only ever fought with pathetic school kids, he'd never tackled anyone like this before and he knew he'd only lose if he tried. Was this guy the murderer Suga had spoken about?

 Heavy footsteps told him the guy was in pursuit. He swore and picked up the pace, the man was behind him quicker than he expected and took his legs out from underneath him, causing his nose to hit the path and start bleeding.

 Hands were in his hair, pulling him up. He shrieked, trying to hit the man behind him but it felt like he was hitting lead. Warm blood was gushing down his chin and neck and he could taste the coppery-metallic tang in his mouth.

 Kageyama froze when the knife was placed against his neck.

 'What do you want with me?' He hissed, spitting blood. The man snorted.

 'Don't speak to me, filth!' He snapped, his voice gruff. The knife pressed against his skin, making it sting.

 Even though he was in a potentially life-threatening situation, Kageyama felt the anger boil up inside of him. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and beat the shit out of this scumbag of a man.

 Suddenly, the man started screaming. The knife fell from his grip and he let go of Kageyama's hair. He stumbled away from him, getting a good distance before deciding to look back. He gasped.

 The golden fox was biting the man's ankle, making very aggressive growling noises. It's muzzle was already covered in crimson blood. The attacker kicked out and the fox jumped away with ease, jumping up and attaching it's jaws around the man's neck.

 Kageyama didn't stay to watch the rest. He turned on his heel and ran back towards the town centre, his heart beating wildly in his chest and his nose throbbing. He didn't stop running until he had burst through the doors of the inn, where he startled the guy sat at reception.

 Gasping for breath, Kageyama was bent over with his hands on his knees, but he didn't get to stay in this position for very long. The receptionist had marched forwards, grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall.

 'Oi! Get off!' Kageyama punched at the guy but it didn't do much.

 'What do you think you're doing here?' The man said threateningly, baring his teeth. Kageyama spat at him. This only angered the man, who looked like he was ready to hurt Kageyama, when Suga appeared from the coffee shop door, looking frantic.

 'Daichi! Daichi! Stop! Put him down! He's not the murderer, it's okay! He's our guest!'

 Immediately, the man known as Daichi let him go and stepped backwards, leaving Kageyama to slump on the floor. Suga knelt down in front him, offering him a wad of tissues for his nose and told Daichi to run and fetch the first aid kit for Kageyama's arm, which he'd only just noticed was bleeding. 'What happened?'

 Just then, the inn door flew open and a tall, bespectacled man stepped in. He spoke quickly to Suga, 'Some guy just got attacked up near the cemetery, he ran off, I think he's hurt- Oh.'

 He'd just spotted Kageyama on the ground. He sighed and shrugged. 'I guess he's ok then. Never mind.'

 Daichi had returned with a green first aid kit, which he handed to Suga. He started pulling out little bottles of ointment, which he used to clean Kageyama's wound. It stung but Kageyama didn't complain, he was too busy glaring at the two new men.

 'I'm sorry,' Daichi said, looking a lot less frightening now he wasn't angry. He was a broad, handsome man with short dark hair. He actually had quite a friendly-looking face. He chuckled. 'I guess I shouldn't listen to rumours.'

 'You're such an idiot.' Suga rolled his eyes. Daichi pulled a face. 'This is my boyfriend, Daichi Sawamura, by the way. I told you about him.'

 Kageyama's mouth form a little 'O' shape. Was Daichi in on Suga's little scheme or where they really lovers? He couldn't be sure.

 'What happened, who attacked you?'

 'I don't know,' Kageyama pressed the tissues to his nose now that Suga had bandaged up his arm. 'Some crazy guy. He was fucking huge. He had a knife, he was trying to slice my throat. He called me filth!'

 'You saw it, Tsukishima?' Daichi asked, looking at the tall man, who was sitting on the reception desk and looking vaguely bored. He nodded and yawned.

 'Yeah.'

 'Why didn't you intervene?'

 'It was quite amusing, watching him being thrown around. I did phone the police, so that's something.'

 Suga glared at him and folded his arms. 'You could have helped him. Look at his face.'

 'It's an improvement.' Tsukishima smirked. Kageyama's lip curled. He didn't like this man very much.

 Then he remembered.

 'Did you see the fox?'

 'What fox?' Tsukishima straightened his glasses. 'I had to run to the phone box to ring the police, so I didn't see anything. Why are you talking about a fox?'

 'It attacked the man before he could kill me!' Kageyama got to his feet. 'I've been seeing it since I got here, a little golden fox. This town needs pest control-'

 'You still say that after you claim it saved your life?' Tsukishima raised an eyebrow. 'Did it injure him?'

  'It bit his ankle and then went for his throat. I ran, so I don't know what happened. I don't know if the man got away or not, but if he did, he'll be bleeding. If he's this murderer, we can catch him.'

 'Tsukishima, go check it out, will you?' Suga asked, making Tsukishima pull an unhappy face.

 'I've just been up there.' He sighed and slipped off the desk. He moved quite gracefully for a man of his size. 'Fine, I'll be back later. Don't wait up.'

 'I'm going too-' Kageyama began but Tsukishima held up a hand to silence him.

 'No thanks.'

 He left.

 Kageyama scowled.

 Suga looked tired and began fussing over Kageyama, who had to push him away. He didn't need mothering. 'Oh, I told you not to go wandering off, I said you could get attacked. At least your nose isn't broken. You should take a shower, although try not to get your arm wet.'

 Yeah, Kageyama thought as he made his way up to his room, Suga did say he could get attacked... Did Suga plan it?

 There was no reason for that man to have attacked him, even if he was this town's mysterious murderer. He had called Kageyama filth, which meant he had something personal against him.

 He switched on the shower and sat on the edge of the bath, thinking it over.

 Was there something on the outskirts of this city that Kageyama shouldn't be seeing? Suga didn't want him going out there, so maybe he'd sent this guy to stop him. Did Suga or this attacker know something about Hinata and were purposely trying to stop Kageyama from finding out?

 And why did Daichi immediately attack him? Even if he'd heard rumours that he was the town's killer, surely Suga would have told him these accusations were false?

 The shower water stung his skin a little. The back of his head was painful and he had a splitting headache and there was a nice bruise forming on his thigh. He kept his arm away from the stream.

 He stared at the whitewashed wall in front of him, his eyebrows furrowed as he thought about his next plan of action.

 There was only one thing for it.

 When night fell, he was going to break the lock on his window and sneak out. If he headed back up to the cemetery, perhaps he'd be able to find tracks and figure out where that guy came from, or if he was out to kill Kageyama, he'd stalk him again and Kageyama could ask him some questions. He'd just need to be on his guard this time and not let the man get to him first.

 Being smaller and nimble, he'd be able to dodge the man's attacks and keep his distance, he'd just been caught unaware before.

 The rest of the day bored him. Suga wouldn't let him go outside again, not that he was planning to until the night-time, and he was stuck either in his room or in the coffee shop, where both Tanaka and Noya were, being as noisy as ever. At least Noya wasn't drunk this time, although this meant he paid attention to Kageyama's presence and kept asking him loads of annoying questions.

 He ended up eating lunch with them and he was introduced to another tall man named Asahi Azumane, who looked quite intimidating from a distance, but once you spoke to him, he was about as threatening as a newly-born kitten. Daichi didn't join them for lunch and Suga said he'd gone back to bed, he'd only been up because Tanaka had been causing commotion earlier.

 'Yeah, he gave me a right ear-full for it, too.' Tanaka pointed to his ear, which was red, as though it had been slapped.

 'Did you two manage to fix the problem with the inn's wall?' Kageyama asked, acting as though he'd just remembered. Both Tanaka and Noya looked blank. Suga cleared his throat.

 'I told you to fix the hole in the inn wall yesterday, don't you remember?'

 'OH! Yeah! Totally.' Tanaka shovelled food into his mouth, while nodding. Kageyama didn't believe this act for one minute. 'Wall. Fixed. Yep.'

 'What are you going on about?' Noya wiped his nose on his sleeve and Suga scolded him.

 'You were pretty much unconscious, you wouldn't remember.'

 'Yeah! I did it all by myself!' Tanaka huffed, keeping up the act. 'You owe me, Yu.'

 Noya wasn't paying any attention. He'd noticed a large cream pie on the dessert tray and was eyeing him up. Suga looked over and groaned. 'No, Noya. Not today.'

 'You're no fun.' Noya grumbled, resting his elbows on the table. Suga made him sit up straight. 'It doesn't affect me _that_ much.'

 'Affect you?' Kageyama was puzzled. Suga began clearing up the plates and spoke before Noya could.

 'He's lactose intolerant.'

 'Yeah, milk makes him gassy.' Tanaka snorted and Noya kicked him. They ended up squabbling and Suga was trying to break them up, while Asahi apologised for the commotion. It wasn't until Daichi burst in, wearing nothing but pyjama bottoms, and shouted at them all to calm down and stop bothering him while he was sleeping did they shut up.

 Kageyama spent the rest of the day in his room, trying to find a spot to get signal since he still hadn't contacted his mother. He rang the reception, asking for wi-fi, but Suga said they didn't have any and he'd have to use one of the payphones to contact his mother, since they got no service at all in Sunshine Harbour.

 'I'll do it tomorrow.' Kageyama sighed and hung up.

 When night finally fell, he slipped on his jacket and opened the window (he'd spent most of the day prising open the lock) and silently as possible, he slipped out and dropped to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KEEP WRITING THIS INSTEAD OF THE OTHER ONE  
> I'M TERRIBLE  
> I will write the other one I SWEAR I WILL  
> cries


	4. The Fox and the Hound

 Sunshine Harbour seemed different at night. It was unusually quiet during the day time, but at night, it was almost scary. The moon hung low in the sky, bright and round, and stars were smattered in their thousands across the wash of black. He'd never seen this many stars before, but the pollution here was minimal. In fact, he hadn't seen a single car at all. Everyone either walked everywhere or biked. Suga had said the town liked to keep itself 'environmentally friendly'.

 The only sounds he could hear were the waves crashing along the beach and the distant rumble of thunder. Another storm was coming, which meant he needed to find this man as quickly as possible before he ended up caught in it.

 Walking through the trees now, following the same path to the cemetery, was worst than he'd imagined. It was pitch black and, with no lampposts to light his way, he had to resort to using the light from his phone to make sure he kept to the path, as he had managed to lose the torch he'd taken with him the other day during the fight with that man. 

 All of his senses were on red-alert, now that his sight was pretty much useless. He kept stopping, panicked that he'd heard something, constantly whipping around, shining the dim light in every direction.

 This was a bad idea, he thought, hurrying down the path a little faster, his heart racing, he wouldn't be able to see the attacker coming. He hadn't thought this through properly.

 When he reached the cemetery, he lowered his phone. The light from the moon illuminated it enough for him to see. Every nerve in his body was on end, telling him to turn back  the way he had came and get away from this church.

 He braved walking through the graveyard, trying not think about any horror movies he and Hinata had watched together. He had never understood why Hinata had wanted to watch those kinds of movies, as he was always terrified by them, but perhaps he liked an excuse to get as close and cuddly to Kageyama as possible. He'd never been bothered by them personally, always commented how stupid and unrealistic they were, but now that he was stood amongst the dead, he was getting extremely paranoid that a hand might just pop up out of the soil at any moment.

 Of course, the church doors were locked and bolted. He walked around the entire building, trying each side door and trying to peer in through the stain-glass windows, but it was too dark too see inside.

 The attacker couldn't be hiding in there, it had been locked when he had been here earlier, but something about it made him want to look. If his whole body was screaming at him to get away from there, it meant there had to be something important about it- right?

 Would he get in trouble if he smashed a window?

 Probably. If this town was religious then smashing a church window would be the worst thing he could do.

 Not wanting to risk being thrown out of town, he left the church alone and made his way back through the graveyard as fast as possible, searching for the spot where the attacker had first appeared. He would wait until next Sunday and come when the church was open to the public, assuming the church-goers would actually allow him inside. Maybe if he lied and said he wanted to atone for his sins or something, they'd be forgiving.

 There was blood on the ground, shimmering on the rocky path and stuck to fallen Autumn leaves. A trail of it lead off into the thicker part of the trees, but that path only led further into the actual forest; the fox must have injured the man and he'd gone blundering off. Kageyama did not want to venture that far at this hour. He would only get lost and with no mobile reception to speak of, he'd have no way of contacting anyone. He'd also be completely vulnerable in the middle of the forest, at least here he knew his way back to the inn.

 Deciding that hunting down this man would have to wait until it was light out, Kageyama made his way back towards town. He wouldn't head back to the inn just yet, he'd use this opportunity to check out some of the other areas he hadn't yet seen. He did briefly have a look round for his fallen torch, but had little luck. 

 Sunshine High was the first stop on his list. It was a large white building surrounded by a high wall, blocked off by a padlocked gate. It was August now, so the school was closed for summer.

 According to a sign on the wall, the school accommodated all students from Kindergarten to High, and that the lower school buildings were around the back. This meant Hinata must have attended here in his youth, as did his sister. There must be records about them, stored somewhere.

 There was no way he'd be able to scale that wall, it was far too high. The gate was a better option but it was covered in spikes at the top, but there was quite a decent-sized gap underneath that he could probably squeeze through if he was clever about it.

 Kneeling down, he was just about to stick his legs under when a noise caught his attention and he looked down the road.

 It had been the sound of footsteps that caught his ear.

 At the end of the road, stood under a street lamp was a short, eighteen-year-old boy with flaming orange hair. He was watching Kageyama, his head tilted to one side, his hands in the pockets of his trousers. There was no readable expression on his face.

 Immediately, Kageyama was on his feet and moving towards him, calling out. 'Shoyo?!'

 Before Kageyama could reach him, however, Hinata turned and sprinted away, disappearing down an alley.

 Confused and a little furious that Hinata would run away from him, Kageyama took up chase, ignoring the smattering of rain that was now falling from the sky.

 Orange hair whipped around another corner and Kageyama picked up his pace, the muscles in his legs protesting. He took another street, and another, almost slipping over on the wet cobbles, and eventually came skidding to a halt when he found himself at a four-way intersection, unsure which road Hinata had taken.

 'Shoyo!' He shouted, turning desperately on the spot, trying to look for his boyfriend. Each road was completely deserted.

 Thunder clapped and lightning streaked across the sky and the rain fell heavier now, soaking Kageyama completely. His clothing was sticking to his skin and his hair was plastered to his face but he barely noticed, he was still calling for Hinata, begging him to come back.

 Why had he ran from him?

 If he had been trying to lead Kageyama somewhere, he wouldn't have let him lose sight of him.

 'What do you want me to do?!' Kageyama yelled into the night air. There was no reply. He screwed up his face and kicked the nearest bin, knocking it over.

 He had to calm himself and think about the positives. The first good thing was- Hinata was still alive and he was fine. He certainly looked fine. The second was that if he had revealed himself to Kageyama once, then surely he would do it again.

 'He must have been trying to lead me somewhere,' Kageyama spoke to himself. He chewed his thumb nail. Had something happened that had caused Hinata to abandon his plan to lead Kageyama away? Could he have run into the attacker or spotted him somewhere, causing him to change route?

 Originally, he was going to go break into the town hall after sneaking around the school, as they would have files about the Hinata family, especially his parents if his father had once been mayor here, but that had completely left his mind now. All that he cared about was finding out where Hinata had gone.

 Taking a chance, he took the road to his right and kept running until he was too tired to run anymore, peering down every little side street he passed. It all felt so useless.

 Banging and crashing sounds coming from his right made him jump. There was a row of shops here, and a tiny dark alley that was squashed in the centre of them, which was blocked off with garbage bags and recycle boxes.

 He approached it cautiously, shining his phone light into the gloom. 'Shoyo?'

 What he was met with was not his boyfriend, but a big pair of terrifying brown eyes. In his panic, he dropped his phone and it shattered on the pavement, the light going out. Kageyama stumbled back, tripping over his own feet and landing on his backside with a painful thud, his hands stinging as they protected his fall.

 Words had escaped him and he was too shocked to even scream. A huge wolf had appeared from the darkness, it's eyes fixed on Kageyama. It's teeth were bared, long and deadly-sharp, with drool dripping from its muzzle, its dark fur plastered to its skin.

 As it walked forwards, its curved black claws scraped along the stone, and it was growling low in its throat.

 When it barked, feeling rushed back into Kageyama's body and he was on his feet in seconds, running as fast as he could in the opposite direction, but the wolf pounced, barely having to try in order to keep up with him and he felt claws dig into his shoulder blades and he was forced to the floor with sheer brute strength. He managed to turn his head in time so that his nose didn't shatter, but he could feel the skin of his cheek scraping off and pain seared through his whole body upon impact.

 Praying nothing was broken, Kageyama laid as still as possible, barely breathing, hoping the wolf would think he was dead. He could feel its body weight on top of him, its claws still sunk into the flesh on his back.

 Everything hurt, and white spots were dancing in his vision, but he didn't dare make a sound.

 The wolf was sniffing him, its nose brushing his ear and rummaging in his hair. Kageyama could only hope that the rain would block away his scent, but when he felt the dog's hot breath on his face, and heard the growling start up again, he knew he was done for.

 Sharp teeth had barely grazed Kageyama's neck when the wolf gave a high-pitched yelp and the pressure was relieved on Kageyama's back.

 Getting to his feet was tricky, his whole body was on the verge of collapsing. He had to crawl away, ignoring the blood running down his face, the stinging in his palms and back and the white, blinding pain in his side. With whatever strength he had, he pulled himself up onto a nearby bench and let himself fall onto it, turning his head to look at what had happened to the wolf, which was still making a lot of noise.

 As vivid as ever, the golden fox was on the wolf's back, sinking its teeth into the back of its neck, while the wolf twisted and turned, whining, trying to throw the fox off. It was like seeing a really bizarre version of a bucking bronco.

 Eventually, the wolf managed to knock the fox from its back but didn't stay to allow it to attack it again, and took off down the street and disappeared around a corner.

 Lightning struck the sky again, but the fox didn't seem bothered by it. It shook itself in a worthless attempt to get dry and trotted over to where Kageyama lay, jumping up onto his chest. It sat up straight, observing him with large golden eyes.

 'What the fuck is wrong with this town?' Was the last thing Kageyama said before the pain in his side made him black out.

 When he woke, it was daylight. He was dry, warm and in his bed back at the inn. His body didn't hurt anymore and when he touched at his face, although the skin seemed rough, it didn't sting. He held up his hands over his head- they were bandaged up.

 Realising he could sit up without anything hurting, he didn't spend any more time lying in bed. He was up, pulling on clothes (he was only in his boxers and he had more bandages around his chest) and was taking the stairs three at a time. He burst into the coffee shop, startling Suga, who almost dropped the cup of tea he was passing over to Tsukishima, who was seated at the bar next to a new face.

 'Kageyama! You shouldn't be out of bed, you need time to heal-'

 Kageyama had no time for Suga's worrying. 'What happened? How did I end up back here? Why on Earth is there a huge wolf roaming the streets and what the fuck is the deal with that golden fox? That isn't normal. Foxes don't act like that.'

 'Sit down then, at least, and let me get you something to drink. What would you like?'

 'Hot milk.'

 'I'm the one that found you,' Tsukishima said, sipping his tea. His friend was looking Kageyama up and down. He was a young looking lad, with a heavily-freckled face and a mess of brown hair. 'Suga sent me to look for you when he found you weren't in your room. You were in such a sorry state. To think, you got beaten up by a dog.'

  His friend tittered and Kageyama scowled. 'It was a huge wolf. I'd like to see you take on a wild animal like that!'

 Tsukishima didn't reply to this comment, he just smirked. Suga placed a cup of hot milk in front of Kageyama. 'I came up last night to see if you were hungry, you missed dinner, and found you'd left. I was worried, so I sent Tsukishima and Yamaguchi out to look.'

 'Hi.' Yamaguchi said, waving. Kageyama didn't say hello back.

 'So, is anyone going to explain to me why there is a massive wolf in this town?'

 'They live in the forest and up in the mountains,' Suga explained. He looked tired, like he hadn't slept. There were bags under his eyes. 'They don't usually come into the town, but it happens once or twice. I'm really sorry you had to deal with that.'

 'Don't you have some sort of animal control?'

 'They don't ever come down in the day time, they're nocturnal animals so they hunt at night. Everyone is wary enough to stay indoors, it's why I told you to not go wandering off. Not to mention that killer is still at large!'

 Could that have possibly been what had stopped Hinata? Maybe he'd run into a wolf of his own and had to get away? He certainly hoped not, he knew Hinata was a speedy little guy, but there was no way he could outrun a wolf.

 That's when he remembered.

 He'd actually seen Hinata.

 He was on his feet without realising it, making the three boys frown at him. Suga pulled a face. 'Are you alright?'

 'I saw Shoyo!'

 All three of them were shocked. Suga put a hand to his mouth. 'You what?'

'Yeah! I saw him near the school, but he ran off. I chased him but he disappeared. I need to go, I need to go search for him, he must have wanted me to follow him and maybe it was the wolf that scared him off.'

 Suga was moving around the bar, pushing him back into his seat. 'For now, you need to drink your milk and calm down, you haven't even got any shoes on. I will go with you and look for him, I don't want you going out again on your own, not after being attacked twice.'

 Kageyama tried to protest but Suga was having none of it. He finally gave in and sat back down again, drinking just to please Suga.

 He didn't want Suga going with him, so he'd need to sneak off on his own again. He'd say he was going to lie down and jump out the window. He didn't trust Suga at all, and he certainly didn't want him anywhere near Hinata. He regretted telling them what he'd seen, but he'd blurted it out before he could stop himself.

 'Was that fox still there when you found me?' Kageyama asked Tsukishima, trying to change the subject.

 'Did you hit your head when you fell over? Did that kill the few brain cells you had left?' Tsukishima said while Yamaguchi laughed. A vein throbbed in Kageyama's forehead. He was going to end up punching this guy at some point, he could see it. He'd been restraining himself this far because he didn't want Suga to stop being so hospitable.

 'It's a small golden fox, about this big,' he indicated with his hands. 'And I see it all the time, it's like its following me.'

 'There are a lot of foxes around here,' Yamaguchi inputted, leaning on the counter to speak to him over Tsukishima. 'But I've never seen a golden one.'

 'I think he's delusional.' Tsukishima said.

 'I'm not lying! Next time I see it, I'll take a photo!' He began patting his pockets for his phone, then he froze and swore. 'I dropped it! Did you pick it up?'

 'Why would I do that? I didn't know you'd dropped it.'

 'I need it-'

 'What for? There's no mobile reception here.'

 'To take a photo and prove to you that there's a stupid fox stalking me. Are all the animals in this town crazy?'

 'No, just you.'

 'Tsukishima, leave him be. He's had a rough night.' Suga stepped in, placing a piece of chocolate cake in front of Kageyama. He hadn't even noticed him leaving the room. 'Thankfully the wolf didn't cause you much damage.'

  'I thought my ribs were broken I was in so much pain.'

  'No, they're fine, but you'll probably have quite a marvellous bruise.' Suga chuckled and Tsukishima raised an eyebrow.

 'What, like the one on your neck?'

 Suga slapped a hand over a large purple bruise at the base of his neck. His cheeks flushed pink. He turned away, muttering about how he was going to beat Daichi for leaving a mark. Kageyama blinked at him, confused. 

 Did that mean he and Daichi were actually seriously dating and it wasn't just a lie to trick him? 

 Ah, what did it matter if he and Daichi were a serious thing or not. All that mattered was him finding Hinata.

 He scoffed down the cake, drained his cup and got to his feet, saying he was going back to bed. He ran back up the stairs and headed straight to his window, after pulling on a pair of shoes, and tried to open it but it was sealed shut. The lock was still broken but no matter how much he tried, the window would not budge.

 Suga didn't want him escaping again, so he must have glued the window in place while Kageyama was unconscious.

 He was seriously considering smashing the glass, or trying another room instead, when his door creaked open and he jumped away from the window, falling into a sitting poistion on his bed. He stretched, yawning, and hoped he looked like he was ready for a kip but he realised he had his shoes on now so anyone would see straight through him.

 'Rather than you trying to break out again,' Suga said, pulling on a coat. 'Let's go search for Hinata. I really don't want to pay for a new window fitted.'


	5. The Search Continues

'He was stood right here, underneath this lamp. I was over there, by the school gates,' Kageyama told Suga, after having lead him back to the spot where he'd seen Hinata. He left out the part where he'd been trying to sneak into the school, Suga didn't need to know that and he wasn't sure he'd approve.

 Suga was wandering around the street, looking down alleyways and rubbing at his chin thoughtfully. He soon came and stood next to Kageyama, staring at the spot where he was pointing. 'Are you certain it was Hinata?'

 'Yes! I've told you!' He snapped, getting frustrated. Suga didn't seem convinced. 'He was _right here_.'

 'What was he doing? Did he say anything?'

 'No, he was just looking at me. When I moved towards him, he ran. I tried to follow, but he vanished and that's when I ran into that wolf. He must have wanted me to follow him, so maybe if I come back here tonight, he'll show up-'

 Suga shook his head. 'No, you're not going out at night again. You keep getting yourself hurt.'

 'But-'

 'Kageyama, doesn't it seem odd that Hinata would run from you? Why would he do something like that? I think this whole Hinata thing is getting to you, you're missing meals and you haven't had much sleep, you were probably hallucinating-'

 'I SAW HIM!'

 'Kageyama, please, just listen to me. I mean this in the nicest way possible, but you look exhausted. The stress of all of this isn't doing you any favours. If Hinata did send you that postcard, why wouldn't he have shown himself by now-'

 'There's no if's about it, that postcard was from him! No one else knows about my feather pendant, and he did show himself! Last night! Right here!'

 'Then why would he run?'

 'I HAVE TOLD YOU THIS! YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!'

 'Calm down, please.' Suga placed his hands on Kageyama's shoulders and stared him straight in the eye. He pulled a face, as though in pain, and sighed dramatically before stepping away again. 'I'm sorry, Kageyama, I don't want to upset you, or crush your hopes, but we have to think about this logically and to me, it sounds like you might have imagined it. Don't you think if Hinata was in this town, someone else would have seen him? If he was able to run around by himself, which would make us assume he was safe and not in any danger, then why would he only come around at night and not just stroll into the coffee shop during the day?'

_Maybe he doesn't trust you._

  Kageyama kept this thought to himself. He huffed and turned away, stomping down the street. 'Whatever, I'm going to keep looking for him on my own if you're not going to be of any help.'

 Jogging to keep up, Suga groaned. 'At least get some rest.'

 'I'll sleep when I find Shoyo.'

 'I had Tsukishima on the look-out, and he said he's not seen Hinata either. He's been asking around with Yamaguchi too, but there have been zero sightings of him. I don't know what else I can suggest to you-'

 'It doesn't matter. You can go. I'll look by myself.'

 'No, no, I said I'd help you.' Suga said, irritating Kageyama. He didn't want Suga trailing him. He was certain Hinata wouldn't show himself again if Suga was with him, but he didn't know how to shake him off. He couldn't exactly run away, Suga knew this town better than he did and it was likely he had a network of people working for him, like that annoying Tsukishima guy or those idiots, Tanaka and Noya.

 Incidentally, they ended up running into Tanaka, who was sitting on the beach, his feet buried in the sand, looking glum. They'd only been passing by, Kageyama hadn't been interested in searching the beach as he didn't expect Hinata to be lazing around, sunbathing, but Suga had pointed out Tanaka and suggested they go speak with him.

 'He might know something.' Suga shrugged and pushed Kageyama down the stone steps. The sand got into his sneakers and he found it very uncomfortable.

 It was nearing the end of August, so the weather was still decent, but too cool for anyone to want to hang about on a beach, so it was pretty dead. The only people around were the two girls he'd seen the other day, swimming in the ocean.

 'Hey guys.' Tanaka waved at them as they came and sat next to him. Kageyama was in with the questions straight away.

 'Have you seen Hinata? I saw him last night, he was wearing black trousers and a grey jacket and white sneakers. Have you been asking around? Did you see where he went? Where is he?'

 'Woah, jeez, calm it. I ain't seen him, if I had, I'd tell you! No one has seen him but you. I think you're starting to lose it, this whole Hinata business is getting to your head.' He knocked at Kageyama's skull and Kageyama swatted him away, angry.

 'We're wasting time, let's go, Suga.'

 'Sit back down, Kageyama.' He said, and Tanaka grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him back onto the sand. 'Let's take a five minute break, we've been walking around for hours.'

 Grumbling, Kageyama tried to suggest he went off on his own but Suga gave him a 'don't-you-dare' death glare and Kageyama remained seated, pouting and wrapping his arms around his knees. Tanaka slapped him on the back in a friendly gesture, although ended up hissing and shaking his hand. 

 'Ah, that stings. I hit you too hard. Sorry.'

 'I hope you're not bothering Kiyoko and Yachi.' Suga was saying to Tanaka, who had turned his attention back to the two girls.

 'Do they swim every day? They were here yesterday too.' Kageyama asked, watching as the little blonde one waved over to them. She called out for Tanaka, who was ready to get up but Suga pulled him back down again.

 'How many times have I told you, stay away from the water.'

 'I just want to swim with them,' Tanaka pursed his lips. Suga sighed and leaned over to speak to Kageyama. 'I want to see Kiyoko in a bikini!'

 'They're training for a competition, and we don't have a swimming pool here so the sea is the next best thing. Yachi, the blonde one, is very sweet but she's very unfocused and Kiyoko gets really mad if you bother them while they're training, so even if she invites you, just politely decline.' 

 Kageyama nodded. He had no desire to go swimming anyway, so this news was irrelevant to him, unless Hinata was hiding in some kind of underwater city below the surface, which was such a ridiculous thought he had to laugh. Both Tanaka and Suga raised a confused eyebrow at him and he cleared his throat.

 'So, beaten up by a wolf, huh?' Tanaka grinned and Kageyama scowled.

 'Everyone acts like I got attacked by a Westie, it was a fully grown wolf! I'd like to see you fight a wolf!' 

 'You must have frightened it!'

 'ME? Frightened it?'

 'They're quite gentle creatures during the day.'

 'Yeah, whatever, make fun of me.' Kageyama huffed and got to his feet, shaking sand off the butt of his jeans. 'I'm leaving. Hinata is in this town somewhere and I have to find him. I'll go on my own, if you don't want to come with me, Suga.'

 'Hold up, I'm coming.' Suga bid farewell to Tanaka, with one final warning to leave the girls alone, and ran after Kageyama, who had already been stalking off. He stopped when he'd reached solid ground again to shake the sand out of his shoes. 'You know, I want to find Hinata as much as you do.'

 'Mmm,' Kageyama responded. He didn't want Suga to find Hinata at all. He didn't trust Suga's intentions. There was no reason for him to want to find a boy he had known as a child, years back. He didn't even know how friendly Suga and Hinata had been, seeing as Hinata was three years younger.

 'When did you take over ownership of the inn and the coffee shop then?' Kageyama asked, trying to make conversation light. He didn't want to talk about Hinata with Suga anymore, he was getting tired of having repeat himself and his trust for Suga was diminishing by the day.

 'Oh, well,' Suga paused for a moment. 'When I was seventeen, so... four years ago? My parents weren't murdered, before you ask. Those people had nothing to do with it-'

_"Those people"_ again. Just _who_ were they?

 '-they were in a boating accident, out on the sea. I'd already been working in the shop since I was a kid so I knew how everything worked. They had left the deed in my name.'

 Kageyama felt awkward. He shouldn't have asked. 'I'm sorry.'

 'Don't worry about it, these things happen.'

  _Yeah, they do_ , Kageyama thought, eyeing Suga up, _but you don't look particularly bothered about it._

  _If my mother had died in an accident a few years ago, I wouldn't be so nonchalant when speaking about it._

Was this another lie?

 What was Suga up to?

 Another subject change was needed.

 'Erm, so, any news about that guy that attacked me?'

 'Oh, yes, I spoke to the police about it.'

 'The police were here? I thought you said there are no police in this town?'

 Suga nodded. 'Yeah, they travelled in. They've had people looking in the church area and in the forest, but the man seems to have vanished - lucky for us, ey?'

 'Did they find his blood? They could use it to get DNA evidence.'

 'What blood?'

 'The blood left on the ground from when the fox attacked him.'

 Suga blinked at him. 'I'm sorry, Kageyama, but they told me they found no trace of the attacker at all, not even footsteps. They thought I was lying, and I had to reassure them there was an actual person- but now I think about it, you're not starting to see things are you? I'm getting worried.'

 'THAT MAN WAS NOT A FIGMENT OF MY IMAGINATION!' Kageyama shouted in his face, making Suga back away. He yanked at his shirt, showing him his neck. 'Look, you can see where the knife started to cut me. You saw the state I was in when I ran back to the inn, how else do you think that happened? I didn't beat myself up.'

 'Okay, okay, I believe you. I'm just throwing around theories, that's all.'

 'Well I don't appreciate being told I'm a liar or I'm crazy.'

 'I never said you were either of those things.'

 'Wouldn't it have been better for me to have spoken to the police, I'm the one that saw him after all.'

 'Yeah, I did suggest that, but they said they didn't have time to wait around until you woke up, seeing as they arrived while you were unconscious from that wolf attack. I told them what you'd told me, so they'll do their best.'

 Suddenly, Kageyama came to a halt, making Suga walk into him. He jumped away quickly, as though he'd received an electric shock. Kageyama was looking around at his surroundings, his eyebrows knitted together. 'I just thought, I haven't seen a payphone around here. I still haven't contacted my mother, and I'd like to speak to the police myself.'

 'You can use the one in the inn, if you'd like.' Suga suggested but Kageyama pulled a face. He didn't want Suga nosing around and eavesdropping on his conversation. He wanted to ask his mother more about the Sugawara family and if she knew anything more about 'the people'. 'But there is one behind the town hall.'

 The next hour that followed was uneventful and Kageyama was getting more and more wound up. He couldn't shake off Suga, no matter what he tried, and was tired of listening to him talk. He was just going on and on about some of the drama that was happening between some of the other guests in the inn and how he was trying to brew the perfect coffee.

 Of course, Hinata didn't reveal himself. Kageyama hadn't expected him to. He was already planning to sneak out again tonight and search for him. If he waited by the school gates again, hopefully Hinata would turn up.

 They returned to the inn together, where Suga shook awake a sleeping Daichi, who had been slumped over the reception desk.

 'I'm sorry to have to ask you to cover for me during the day. You can go back to bed now, me and Kageyama are going to have some dinner.'

 'Don't you want to join us?' Kageyama frowned at Daichi, who was yawning. There were no windows in the reception, the only light source was a single bulb hanging overhead.

 He hadn't seen Daichi eat anything since he'd been there, but then again, he rarely saw Daichi as he covered the night shift.

 'We have a little kitchen down in the basement,' Suga told Kageyama, kissing Daichi goodbye. If this was an act, they were really sticking to it. 'I just like to eat with the guests.'

_More like you don't want to let me out of your sight..._

 Tanaka joined them for dinner, talking loudly about how beautiful Kiyoko was and how he hoped she'd be his girlfriend, he just needed the right bait to lure her in. The large guy named Asahi also came and sat with him, although he looked very worn-out and sleepy and had bandages on his arms.

 'What happened?' Kageyama asked him and Asahi jumped a mile. He apologised and picked up the cutlery he'd just dropped.

 'I tripped. It's nothing.'

 'It's just a few scratches where he scraped the skin, I just like to be careful, so I bandaged him up.' Suga said, spooning more meat onto Kageyama's plate. They were having steak tonight and most of it was quite rare. 'I can cook it a bit more you if you'd like, we're just all fond of it a bit bloodier, that's all.'

 'I'm fine with it like this.' Kageyama said, not really tasting what he was eating. He was too busy trying to think of an excuse to get himself away from the group and outside. He needed something that wouldn't draw suspicion to him, anything too over-the-top or elaborate wouldn't work.

 Something normal.

 'Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom.' Kageyama pushed his chair back and stood up. Everyone grunted at him, too busy eating, and he made his way out of the dining hall and half way up the stairs, stopping at the middle and continuing to stamp like he was climbing. He made his footsteps quieter, like he was walking away, before being as quiet as a mouse and tip-toeing back down the stairs and across the empty reception area.

 He sprinted the moment he'd gotten out of the door, heading straight towards the town hall. He darted around the back and found the phone that Suga had told him about, but when he picked it up, he noticed the cord had been cut.

 'You've got to be kidding me.' Kageyama dropped the phone, backing away. Had Suga cut that on purpose? There was no way he could go back to the inn now. Suga was definitely out to get him- or Hinata.

 Leaning against a wall, he caught his breath and peered around the corner, down the square at the inn. No one had come running after him, so hopefully they hadn't noticed.

 What was he going to do now? What was his plan?

 He could spend the rest of the day just wandering around, but where would that get him? He could only hope that Hinata would show up, but there was no knowing if he would. He needed to do something else in the meantime, he needed information.

 The town hall would have information!

 He twisted and peered in through the nearest window. Inside was an empty office, filled with filing cabinets.

 If Hinata's Dad had been the mayor here, then surely there would be records of him stored in here, maybe a birth certificate of Hinata's or his sister, an old home address, anything.

 Feeling a little excited, like he was finally onto something, he went around the front and tried the door. He wasn't surprised to find it locked. Nor was he surprised to find any of the side doors locked too. And all of the windows.

 He had no lock picking skills, nor anything to pick a lock with, so that option was scraped.

 It was weird, he thought as he wandered around the building, looking for anything he could use to smash a window. Why would the town hall be shut? Even if the mayor was on holiday, or wherever Suga said he'd gone, they'd still have it open to the public- other people had to work there, receptionists and secretaries and other members of some form of town council. This wasn't the mayor's house, so it didn't make sense. 

 'You're snooping again.'

 Tsukishima was seated by the broken payphone, twisting the black phone in his hands. Kageyama glared at him. 'What's it to you?'

 'The sun is starting to go down, you should return to the inn.'

 'And if I don't?'

 A small laugh escaped Tsukishima's lips. He pushed himself to his feet and dropped the phone. 'I'm not going to make you do anything, you can do what you want, I don't care.'

 'Then why are you bothering me?'

  There was something strange about the way Tsukishima was looking at him. Kageyama couldn't work out what it was. 'I'm going to give you a bit of advice, but don't take this as me caring about your well-being or anything, because I don't. Suga and the others want you to stay, but it's only going to get you killed.'

 'Oh yeah, and who is going to kill me?'

 'Well, that man and the wolf, for one...' Tsukishima smirked for a moment, before he resumed his serious expression. 'There are a lot of things about this town that you don't know, and before you tell me _'that's what I'm trying to find out',_ don't bother. You're sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong and you're going to end up regretting it, and I don't want to be the one to have to scrape you up off the pavement. Go home, kid. Get on the next bus and leave, get as far away from here as possible. For your own sake and mine, I'm getting tired of looking at you.'

 To Tsukshima's surprised, Kageyama started to laugh. 'Thanks for the advice, but I'm not going anywhere, and if none of you want to tell me what's happening in this town, then I'll find out for myself. Maybe if you all just left me alone, I'd be able to find Hinata and leave. I don't want to stay here, but I don't have a choice. I won't go home without him.'

 Tsukishima shrugged and turned, walking away. 'It's your funeral.'


	6. Sunshine High

Trying to get back into the school at night was a bad idea. He knew Suga was out looking for him, he kept almost running into people holding flashlights, and they'd stationed Tsukishima and Yamaguchi outside the school gates. They both looked rather bored and Tsukishima kept complaining, saying Kageyama wasn't worth all this effort.

 Unable to do much else, too scared to venture any further out again in case the attacker came back, he spent the night curled up in the corner of a tiny alley behind the back of some shops. It wasn't raining tonight, and it was fairly warm, so he wasn't bothered by that, although he was certain he could hear the scuffling of mice or rats and that set his teeth on edge. He was also super paranoid that the wolf was going to be come back and get him, and he carefully surrounded himself with bins so he wouldn't be easily spotted by a passerby.

 Somehow, he managed to sleep. His body was just exhausted and he'd nodded off, waking up in the early hours the following morning. His watch said six a.m.

 Fishermen were setting up on their boats down by the pier. It was the first he'd seen anyone using the boats. Kiyoko was aboard one of them, dressed all in fishing gear, hoisting the sails and talking to another girl, who reminded Kageyama oddly of Tanaka, and gave him a very brief wave when she spotted him.

 'Wanna come fishing with us?' The other girl called, waving vigorously at him. Kageyama shook his head.

  'No thanks. It's not my thing.' Kageyama said, approaching the end of the pier. Kiyoko walked over and sat on the edge of the boat, dipping her hand into the water. 'I don't suppose either of you have seen Shoyo Hinata at all?'

 He pulled the photo out of his pocket and held it up for them to see. The other girl slapped her face. 'Oh my! Look at him! I haven't seen him in _years_. What a cutie. He your boyf, yeah?'

 She grabbed the photo, holding it up to look at it. She grinned. 'Cute! I heard all about it, him going missing. It's terrible. I'd help you look, but I promise Kiyoko here we'd go out on the boat. I'm Saeko Tanaka, by the way. Ryuunosuke's big sis. He's the one that told me about Hinata. Poor kid. I hope you find him.'

 Tanaka's older sister- that explained the resemblance. She was shorter than her brother, curvy, with neat honey-coloured hair. They had the same smile. She shoved the picture back at him.

 'Best of luck!'

 'Have you tried the school?' Kiyoko said. Kageyama hadn't heard her speak before. Her voice was very soft and if it wasn't so quiet around here, he'd have barely heard her. 'If that's where you saw him, perhaps he is inside.'

  Kageyama shook his head. 'No, but I'll go there next. Thank you. You're the first person who has actually given me some help.'

 'I liked Hinata. He was a funny kid.' She said, adjusting her glasses.

 Bidding them farewell, Kageyama set off in the direction of Sunshine High. Tsukishima wasn't guarding it anymore, so this was the prime opportunity for him to sneak inside. It was obvious there was something important in here, otherwise they wouldn't have bothered trying to protect it.

 He stared at the spot where he'd seen Hinata for a while, hoping that maybe he'd appear there again, but after ten minutes when nobody came, Kageyama got tired of waiting and lowered himself to the ground, sliding underneath the gate. It was difficult, his chest got wedged a little and he had to really shuffle to get himself under.

 When he got to his feet on the other side, his back was ditched and there were leaves stuck in his hair. He picked them out and made his way to the front doors, past the bike sheds and the concrete courtyard. It wasn't a very big school, but he doubted there were that many children in this town. Less than a thousand, he had to guess. He'd seen kids around, walking with their parents and playing in the park that was near the inn, but he hadn't really approached any of them.

 He had considered asking them, as kids tended to be more honest than grown-ups, but the town suspected him enough without him making things worse by scaring the children.  

 A heavy metal chain was holding the doors together. The big padlock looked stable and he doubted there'd be any way for him to break it, but he had snuck out of his old school enough times to know there were more doors than this one.

 The kitchen door, fire doors, doors to science labs, and so on. He ended up finding the kitchen door first, which had a ventilation shaft next to it. He pulled off the cover and heaved himself inside, crawling through the tiny metal tunnel, sneezing a few times when dust got up his nose. This lead over the top of the kitchen and was fitted with three large fans that sucked up the steam from cooking.

 All he had to do was twist out the screws from one of the fans, push it out of the way and there was a hole big enough for him to drop down through. He held onto the vent and let his legs swing, judging the fall and whether or not it would hurt him. He eventually let go and felt his ankle go underneath him and cracked his knee against the linoleum floor, but nothing serious.

 Swearing to himself, clutching at his knee, he hopped around the kitchen on one foot until it stopped throbbing and he could walk again.

 It was a very unimpressive looking kitchen, like any old school kitchen. Silver surfaces and cookers, large fridge-freezer combos, piles of cardboard boxes labelled with various, lasting foodstuff and loads of cupboards filled with tins and packets and other things that would last over a summer break. Aprons and hats were hung up by the doors that lead out into the cafeteria area.

 He was behind the counter, where they served up food. He hopped over the little locked door that separated the staff from the students and walked briskly through the rows of little grey tables, stopping when he reached a long, white corridor, lined with grey lockers. He was mentally working out the direction he'd entered in from and which way would take him back to the reception area.

 Finding the reception area was a breeze as there were signs that pointed the way. He kept stopping to peer into classrooms, but they were ordinary and boring, and he didn't like looking at them for too long. Being inside a school again made him feel bitter and upset. He had no fond memories of school life, even when Hinata had been there. It was Hinata that was the good thing, not the school.

 Kageyama scowled as he passed by a large, student-done billboard on the wall, which showed many angels with wings spread wide, descending from heaven. There were loads of poems children had written about God and angels, but he didn't stay to read them. It disgusted him how narrow-minded people were. How could anyone believe in stuff like that? He certainly didn't think that kind of thing should be taught in schools.

 Back in school, whenever the classes had been anything to do with religion, Kageyama had either gotten up and left, or simply refused to take part and threw screwed up paper in his teachers face. He got a lot of detentions, which were just as a bad as they made him write out passages from the Bible for hours.

 The reception area was all white, part from the yellow-and-orange school crest of a rising sun on the front wall. There was a single chair, which he sat in, and he stared around the desk, looking for something relevant. There was no computer here, no pens or paper, it was bare. He pulled open the drawers but they were all empty too, apart from a single key.

 He figured this must be the key to one of the staff-only rooms. He tried the staff room, but that was unlocked and only held about half-a-dozen sofas and a little kitchen area for tea and coffee.

 It turned out the key was the for the headmaster's office. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, feeling satisfied to find a large, quite-old computer on the desk. He hurried over and switched it on, but nothing happened. He checked the plug, but it all seemed alright. Then he remembered- he'd had the same problem one summer when he'd had to go into school to do a re-sit test he'd failed, and he'd asked them to turn the air con on, but they said there was no power supplied to the school during the summer.

 'Bugger!' He smacked at the computer, feeling frustrated. He would need the janitor's key to access the main control panel for the electricity supply to the school, and he would bet a million bucks that the janitor had that in his own home. He groaned, leaning back in the chair and rubbing his face. 'How long am I going to have to stay in this stupid town?'

 There were filing cabinets in this room, however. He got up and began pulling them open, rifling through each dusty-yellow file. These were files for upcoming events, building plans, basic boring school stuff. There was another cabinet that had files for students, but there was no Hinata.

 Then again, he was in the High School part of the building. He'd need to go the lower part to find anything about the Hinata's, as they never attended Sunshine High.

 None of the file names he recognised, meaning all these students were recent ones. He wasn't going to find Suga's or Tsukishima's folders here. They'd probably been thrown away by now.

 This was why he wanted to get on the school data base. All old records would be stored on there, but with no power, he was useless.

 Empty schools were creepy. His footsteps echoed around the halls and silent classrooms didn't seem right.

 Sunshine Primary was right at the back of the building, connected to the Kindergarten. It was a lot more colourful and bright than the High School, covered in numbers and letters of the alphabet and funny pictures stuck on the walls. Weirdly, a lot of the furniture looked chewed on.

 When he found the office for this part of the school, he had to kick the door open because they key didn't work in this lock. It was easy enough, a few kicks made it give way. More filing cabinets pleased him and he quickly began searching through them, but just like the others, these only held the students who attended now.

 Aggravated, he kicked over a plant pot and his eye fell on the glass cabinet behind the desk. It was filled with trophies and medals, along with lots of different coloured ribbons and many photos of old students. He moved over to it, peering in.

 A poor-quality black-and-white photo caught his eye, the date read June '70, and the little plaque underneath said, 'Hinata wins Junior volleyball championship'. The photo showed a boy in his early teenage years, holding a ball under his arm, with his other around another teen who looked oddly like Suga.

 If this photo was taken in 1970, then those two boys had to be Hinata's father and Suga's father.

 Could that be why Suga was so keen on finding Hinata? If his Dad had known the Hinata's, then maybe they were old family friends.

 Why would Suga keep that information from him?

 He smiled at the photo, looking closely at Hinata's father. He looked very similar to his son  at that age. That was how Hinata had looked when Kageyama had first met him, so little and cute.

 At least he hadn't been lying about his father playing volleyball as a kid. That's where Hinata said he'd gotten his talent from, he used to play with his father all the time in their back garden.

 It made Kageyama happy to know there were some parts of Hinata's life that he knew of, even if it wasn't everything.

 There was no photos of anyone who looked like him, though. He was hoping that maybe there'd be an old photo of his father, if he had known the Sugawara's and the Hinata's, but all of the other photos were of strangers. There were plenty of trophies with names on, but he had no idea what his father had been called, and he had taken his mother's surname. Eventually, he gave up hope and decided that his father was always going to be a mystery and he'd have to accept that. It didn't mean much to him, anyway. He had to focus on Hinata.

 Gently, careful not to disturb the display, Kageyama opened the glass panel and took out the photo of Hinata and Sugawara's fathers, slipping the image from the frame and pocketing it. He would show Suga later. He had to go back to the inn at some point, seeing as all his stuff was there, including money that would get him a bus home.

 Rummaging through the drawers in here gave him nothing. He sighed and left the room, making his way back to the High School. He'd need to go through that vent again to get out, unless there was a way to unlock the kitchen door from the inside. Or a fire door would work, they were usually designed to be opened from the inside.

 From somewhere overhead came a loud banging, which made Kageyama almost jump out of his own skin. Alarmed, he dashed towards the nearest set of stairs, taking them two at a time, and burst out into another corridor, looking around frantically for the source of the noise. Deciding he'd heard it to the left, he sped down the corridor and skidded to a halt in front of an open classroom door.

 The classroom was wrecked. The chairs and tables had all been toppled over, as had the desk, and there were ripped pages of books scattered everywhere. Shocked, he turned on the spot and felt his heart freeze in his chest.

 Drawn on the blackboard was the game of hangman, except it was his full name spelt out- _TOBIO KAGEYAMA_ - with a jumble of other letters crossed out underneath, and next to it was a drawing of himself, hanging from a noose. Someone had even gone to the trouble of splattering red paint over the board, along the walls and onto the ceiling. They'd left the empty poster-paint bottle lying on the floor, along with several crushed pieces of chalk. There was a hand-print as well, made with chalk dust, on the overturned desk.

 Kageyama let out a small yelp and ran from the room, down the stairs and was about to reach the kitchen when some stepped out from the staff room and he almost shrieked and slipped over. He was on his feet again in seconds, ready to fight whoever was trying to scare him, but this man looked as shocked as he did.

 Another tall man. He was getting quite unhappy about how tall a lot of the people in this town where, he was used to be one of the tallest back in Angel's Haven.

 This man was holding a bag full of volleyballs, with a whistle around his neck and was wearing gym clothing. 'Hello?'

 'Who are you?' Kageyama didn't let his guard down. The man raised an eyebrow.

 'Perhaps I should ask you that question. What are you doing in the school? You're too old to be a student.'

 'I could ask you the same thing.'

 'I am the gym teacher here,' he dangled a set of silver keys in front of Kageyama's face. 'The school gymnasium is open on certain days for children to come in and keep fit. Are you bringing a student? Are you someone's older brother? Classes don't start until this evening. Sneaking around the school can get you in trouble. Don't make me call the police.'

 'No, no, I'm sorry, I just... got lost. Yeah, can you point me the way out?'

 The stranger laughed. 'Follow me. I'm going to overlook whatever reason you have to be inside the school, since there are no children here I can't imagine it's anything predatory, right? I'd hope not. It's six in the morning, you'd think those kind of people would come later. Unless you were going to hide somewhere.'

 'No, nothing like that! I'm looking for someone.' Kageyama decided to just be honest. He couldn't think of an excuse good enough.

 'You know it's summer, right? The school is closed.'

 'They're not a student here. Well, they used to be, a long time ago. They went missing and I am trying to find them. I figured there might be something here, old files about them.' Why was he babbling? What was it about this man that made him jumble his words?

 He had to admit, he was very attractive.

 Tall, with a pretty-boy smile and swooshy brown hair. If Kageyama was single, he'd probably find himself fancying this man.

 'Your friend went missing?' They'd reached a fire escape door, which was propped open. The stranger must have entered from here. 'How awful.'

 'My boyfriend.'

 'Oh! I see...' The man shut the door behind them and locked it. That hadn't been the response he'd wanted, although he was used to those kinds of replies to his sexuality by this point. He didn't need a lecture, or someone telling him he was going to go to Hell, but he was too stubborn to deny who he was and whom he loved and was ready to start up an argument if this man said anything negative, but he just shrugged and said 'whatever floats your boat'.

 Kageyama walked away from him, a little relieved he didn't have to defend his right to love another human being, and looked up at the windows of the second floor. He was sure he saw a dark shadow flick by, but it could have been the trick of the light. His heart was still racing from that drawing on the board.

 Could it be the killer from before? Was he still inside? Kageyama could hardly go back in and check now, the other man was locking up. He didn't want to say anything either, he didn't want to get this man involved.

 'I'll just.. be going now.' Kageyama said. He wanted to get back to the Sugar Cup as quickly as possible. He was starting to get scared and even though he didn't trust Suga, it was the place he felt most safe.

 'Hold up. What's your name? I'm Toru Oikawa.' He held out his hand for Kageyama to shake. Kageyama didn't take it. 'Are you alright, you look like you've seen a ghost.'

 'Yeah, just a bit poorly. I should get back to bed. I'm up too early.' He turned and began to walk away. The man named Oikawa called after him.  

 'You didn't answer my question.'

 'Kageyama.' Was all he said. 

 'This kid you're looking for, is his name Hinata?' Kageyama turned on the spot, his eyes-wide. He nodded, unable to speak. Oikawa grinned and dropped the bag of balls at his feet. 'I heard from the townsfolk some stranger from out of town was searching for a Shoyo Hinata. I knew the kid, back in the day when I was just a trainee-teacher. He was excellent at volleyball.'

 'Did you know about his father? Or about what happened to him?'

 'Unfortunately not, he was before my time. I'm only twenty-five. I know his father used to be the mayor, and he got himself involved in a bad crowd. Something about money. I didn't really pay much attention to politics, so I can't give you much information on the matter. The whole thing was very hush-hush after the Hinata parents had died.' He strode over to Kageyama and slung an arm around his shoulder. Kageyama's feather pendant was hanging on his chest and Oikawa looked at it for a moment, before grinning broadly.  'So, Kageyama, what if I told you I  knew where Hinata was?'


	7. Suspicion

He hadn't believed Oikawa at first. He'd stared at him, open-mouthed, trying to formulate words in response but they faltered before they reached his tongue. Could he really trust this man, who had shown up, out-of-the-blue, immediately after Kageyama had seen the writing on the blackboard?

 Why was he getting volleyball equipment ready now, this early in the morning, if students didn't come for practise until later that evening?

 'Hmm, honestly, I'd have expected you to be a little happier.' Oikawa titled his head to observe Kageyama like a curious puppy. He leaned against the wall, waiting for a reply. 'I can always leave you to search for him on your own, if you'd like?'

 'Where is he?' Kageyama asked, finally finding his voice. Oikawa smiled. It was the type of smile that made you want to instantly like this guy, the type of smile that would get boys and girls alike falling at his feet, but Kageyama had to keep himself focus. Just find out the details and get away from him.

_Don't trust anyone._

 'If you let me put these balls in the gymnasium, I can take you there.' Oikawa threw the bag over his shoulder. Kageyama shook his head.

 'Just tell me where he is. I'll find him myself.'

 'I'm just trying to help you out. There's a big warehouse area at the very other end of the town, but there's no signs pointing that way, so you'll get lost on your own.' Oikawa told him, walking away, knowing Kageyama would follow him because he hadn't yet given any details about Hinata's whereabouts, other than a vague mention of these warehouses. They walked together and entered the gym, which was smaller than the one Kageyama was used to back in Angel's Haven.

 Kageyama had always found gymnasiums quite comforting. He'd really loved playing volleyball, once upon a time, and had always felt a stab of jealously whenever he'd had to watch the other kids playing it during High school when he couldn't. He was better than all them, he'd make their team win every tournament, but they never let him join.

 It wasn't quite enough to calm his shot nerves though. He was still internally freaking out about the writing on the wall. He was still debating whether or not he should mention it to Oikawa, he didn't want to get in trouble in case Oikawa thought he'd been the one to write it. Instead, he asked, 'Did you come here alone?'

 'Yes. Why?'

 'Oh, nothing. I just thought I saw someone in the upstairs windows a moment ago.'

 Oikawa frowned. 'I definitely came alone. Do you think there's someone else in the school? Should I contact someone?'

 'No.' He said, trying to play it off. 'I must have been imagining it. It's early and I'm tired.'

 He made an effort to yawn and went to stand in the middle of the court, making a big show of admiring the net.

 If the guy from before was in the school, he wouldn't show his face with a member of staff around. Kageyama wanted to face him on his own, even if it was a huge risk to take. He needed to know why this man was after him. It must have something to do with Hinata. The man must know something.

 'Do you play?' Oikawa asked, dropping the balls into a large basket in the corner of the room. The net was already set up and there were a few empty water bottles discarded at the edge of the room. 

 'I used to. A long time ago.'

 'What position?'

 'Setter.'

 'Hey! Me too!' Oikawa grinned at him. 'You and Hinata can play against my team when you find him. I'd like to see what your setting skills are like. Well, come on then, I'll take you to where I saw Hinata.'

 Kageyama waited for Oikawa to lock up before asking him, 'How do you know he'll be there? I saw him outside the school, but that doesn't mean he's still around here. He could have moved somewhere else.'

 'This way,' Oikawa said, leading him through a set of side gates Kageyama had not noticed before, and down the street where he'd seen Hinata. 'I can't say for certain that Hinata will be there, so don't get your hopes up too much, but I have to pass by the warehouses a lot to fetch my nephew from work. He's just turned fifteen, got a job working at the fish market. My sister is out of town so I have to look after him and I don't like him walking home by-'

 'No offense, but I don't care.' Kageyama interrupted. Oikawa looked a little taken back but didn't get mad about it. 'Tell me about Hinata.'

 'I've seen him around. He's a lot older than I remember him being, but I recognise him. About this short,' he indicated with his hand. 'Messy orange hair, very speedy.'

 Excitement bubble in Kageyama's chest.

 Could this be the day he actually found Hinata?

 He'd been in this town a little less than a week, but he was already sick of it, and, despite hating Angel's Haven, he was beginning to get home sick. He missed his mother and felt awful for not being able to get in touch with her and reassure her he was safe, and he missed spending every day with Hinata. He wanted to sleep by his side again, he was so used to having another person there he felt utterly miserable having to sleep by himself. He missed how warm he was to cuddle into, how good he smelt, the way his eyes lit up when he was happy and how he laughed at almost everything. He wanted to kiss Hinata again.

 Though he wasn't going to get his hopes up. He didn't know if he could trust this man or not. He could be lying, leading him into some kind of weird trap, but he didn't have any other leads, so this was his best shot.

 Kageyama looked him up and down, judging his size. He was certain he could outrun this man if he had to.

 If they got to the warehouse and Hinata wasn't there, he would leave. If Oikawa tried to stop him, then he'd know there was something shady going on and he would get back to the inn.

 It was a long walk to the warehouse area of the town. They had to skip through a lot of the residential parts, which were extremely uninteresting and Oikawa chatted happily about his life as they walked, pointing at houses and mentioning which of his friends lived where and what it was like being a teacher and how the kids all looked up to him.

 The only reason Kageyama let him drone on was because then they wouldn't be walking in an awkward silence. He didn't feel like talking much and it was easier to just let Oikawa speak for the both of them.

 'I didn't ask, you got a first name?'

 'Tobio.'

 'Well, it's nice to meet you, Tobio. Are you enjoying your stay here? Ah, I suppose not. That's a silly question. It must be upsetting, losing someone you care about.'

 'Don't talk like he's dead.'

 Oikawa raised his hands in front of him. 'No, no, certainly not! I'm just trying to be friendly. Come on, this shortcut cuts through the rest of the houses. The industrial estate is just up here.'

 A group of children ran past, which Kageyama was surprised to see due to the fact it was only around seven in the morning, and they all waved happily at Oikawa and greeted him with a 'Good morning Sir!' before disappearing round the corner.

  'Where are they going? It's summer, there's no school. Why are they awake? Where are their parents?'

 Oikawa laughed and waved a hand lazily at Kageyama. 'It's starting to get darker earlier, so children like to get up and go out to play as early as possible, when the sun is up. I'm sure you've heard it's dangerous to be out and about during the night. There's a play park nearby, I imagine they are heading over there.'

 Then, out the corner of his eye, he saw it again. The golden fox zipped by, running along a low wall and away from the pair of them. Kageyama nudged Oikawa's arm to get his attention, making him give a little cry of pain and rub at the spot where Kageyama had touched him. Kageyama couldn't tell if Oikawa was being melodramatic, because he was certain he hadn't hit him _that_ hard.

 'Did you see that?'

 'Huh?' Oikawa looked around, puzzled. 'See what?'

 The fox had gone.

 Kageyama sighed.

 'It's nothing. I just keep seeing this fox everywhere.'

 'There are plenty of them around here. We get a few wolves from the mountains coming down at night, occasionally.'

 'I'm aware,' Kageyama said bitterly, rotating his shoulders as though he could still feel the claws sinking into his back. He held up his bandaged hands to show Oikawa, who asked for the details about what had happened and Kageyama explained about the wolf. Oikawa said it was common for wolves to roam around at night, so you had to be super careful. 

 Sunshine Harbour's Industrial Estate was the rougher part of the town, hidden by a high brick wall and iron-fencing, filled with old crumbling buildings and many, many warehouses and factories. It really ruined the little aesthetic the town had going, which is why, Kageyama had to guess, they built the wall blocking it from view. It was also hidden out of the way. Kageyama had to admit he'd have never found this place if Oikawa hadn't been 'kind enough' (he was still questioning the strangers motives) to lead him there.

 Why would Hinata be hanging out in a place like this?

 As Oikawa started to babble on about how this was where they made most of the products that the town used, as they didn't get much shipped in, Kageyama walked up to the gate and pushed it open, the gate squeaking loudly in protest. The sound made him wince. 

 'Come on, this way. The fishmonger bit is all the way down there, but we won't go that far. Whenever I see him, he's around a certain building. Maybe he's squatting there? Although, I do sometimes see him around another building, now that I think about it. Do you know where the lagoon is?'

 'No.'

 'Just follow the coast, it's far from here. On the side near the town centre, there's an old abandoned boating rental place. I'm sure I've seen an orange-haired kid going in there a couple of times, when I've been taking my nephew to the beach.'

 'What is he doing, when you see him?'

 Oikawa scratched at his face, thinking. 'Uh, usually, he's just sitting around somewhere. I see him with a little leather journal, he keeps writing in it.'

 'Does he look injured in any way?'

 'No.'

 'Have you ever tried to speak to him?'

 'No. He always scarpers if he notices me looking. I don't know what he's trying to hide.'

 Kageyama stopped walking. Oikawa continued for a moment before skidding to a halt, almost tripping over his own feet. He looked back, confused. 'What's wrong?'

 'Why are you helping me? What's in it for you?'

 Laughing a little, Oikawa walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. He gave it a little squeeze before letting go. Something twitched in his eye, like he was unhappy about touching him, but Kageyama wasn't sure if he was looking for excuses to dislike this man. 'I'm just trying to help you out, you can trust me. I'm not like the other people around here.'

 'What's wrong with this town?'

  Oikawa blinked at him. 'What do you mean?'

  'I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something off about this place. Golden foxes that keep turning up when I'm in danger, everyone's acting fishy, keeping secrets, lying. I don't trust Suga at all...' He hadn't meant to admit this last part, it had just slipped out. Oikawa pulled a face.

 'You're staying at the Sugar Cup? Hmm...'

 'Why? What's wrong with it? Tell me.'

 'I think you're wise not to trust Mr. Refreshing.'

 'Mr. Refreshing?'

 Oikawa laughed. 'It's my nickname for Sugawara. There's something about him that makes you want to like him, he's very refreshing in that sense, but I don't trust people like that.'

  _So I shouldn't trust you then?_

'What do you know about him?'

 'Ah, well, I shouldn't speak bad of other townsfolk,' Oikawa rubbed the back of his neck and urged Kageyama to keep walking, saying that the warehouse he'd seen Hinata hanging around wasn't far from here. 'Just be wary of him, that's all I'm saying. He's manipulative and he's always got his own agenda.'

 'He did let me stay in his inn for free...'

 Turning to look at him, Oikawa raised an eyebrow, his expression worried. 'Really? That's a bit... odd. He must want to keep you around for something.'

 'I think he might want me to find Shoyo.'

 'You think he's after Hinata?'

 Kageyama shrugged. 'It's the only thing I can think of.'

 'It's a possibility. I know their parents never got on...'

 'What?' Kageyama fished the photo he'd stolen from the school out of his pocket. He was hoping Oikawa wouldn't notice that it was one of the school photos, as he worked there, he'd probably be mad about it. If he did realise, he didn't say anything about it. 'But they're both here, and they look friendly to me.'

 'Ah yes,' Oikawa observed the image. 'Well, that was before they both became teenagers. I can't tell you the full story, because I heard it from my parents, but Hinata's father and Sugawara's father ended up in some kind of rivalry in High school. The fighting got worse and then when Hinata's father became the mayor, Sugawara-senior wasn't pleased about it.'

 Kageyama gasped. 'You don't think... Suga's father killed the Hinata's do you? Was he part of _'those people'_?'

 'Those people? I'm not sure what you're on about, but I don't think Sugawara-senior killed them. No-one knows who murdered them, it was all very hush-hush. What, do you think Sugawara-junior wants revenge or something? Why would he, if you're claiming his parents killed Hinata's?'

 'Yeah, but Shoyo's parents didn't die until he was about twelve, so Suga would have known him as a kid, and I bet if his father hated the family, he'd have taught Suga to hate Shoyo.'

 'Could be, who knows? Right, just in here.'

 They'd reached an old, very large, abandoned warehouse. The windows were all boarded up and the majority of the doors were padlocked shut, apart from one which had a metal chain lying near to the door. There was nothing particularly interesting about this building, and it was the last place Kageyama would ever expect Hinata to be.

 There was a dull ache in his chest. He longed to open the doors and see Hinata sat inside, but there was something holding him back. It was like a trigger warning was going off in his head.

 'Are you going in then, Tobio?'

 Before Kageyama could take another step, however, someone else was calling his name quite frantically. Both Kageyama and Oikawa turned on the spot to find Suga running over to them, wearing his coffee shop apron and looking very red in the face from overexerting himself. He came to a halt in front of the pair of them, resting his hands on his knees, getting his breath back.

 'Jesus, Kageyama. We've all been so worried, I had people looking for you all night. Are you ok? Are you hurt? Did anything attack you again? Your bandages are filthy, we're going to need to change them...' He tried to fuss over Kageyama, but he was rejected. Kageyama pushed him away.

 'It's good to see you, Mr. Refreshing.' Oikawa smiled slyly. Suga glared at him.

 'Don't call me that.' He tried to reach for Kageyama again. 'Come on, Kageyama. We need to get away from here. These old buildings aren't safe, I don't know why you are here in the first place.'

 'I've seen Hinata around here.' Oikawa explained. Suga scoffed.

 'That's a likely story! Come on, Kageyama, you can't trust him. Come back to the inn.'

 'It's you I can't trust!' Kageyama snapped, whacking Suga's hand away. Suga looked very upset at these words. 'You keep lying to me, having me followed, you won't explain anything, so how can I trust you? What's your deal? Are you after Shoyo? Because I can tell you, right now, that I will never, _ever_ , let any harm come to that boy. So, just stay away from me and stay away from him, or else.' 

 He could see out the corner of his eye Oikawa was rather enjoying this little outburst and was doing his best to keep his smile at a minimum. He patted Kageyama on the shoulder. 'Calm down, Tobio. It's alright. I don't think Hinata is here, anyway. You go to the other place I mentioned, check that out. It's important. I want a word with Sugawara.'

 'But, you said he'd be here-'

 Oikawa was giving him a look that said 'just trust me' and Kageyama nodded and took off at a run before Suga could stop him. He could hear Suga shouting after him, but he tuned it out. He wasn't going to listen to him anymore. He had to protect Hinata from him.

 He took a quick glance over his shoulder and noticed that Oikawa had a grip on Suga's upper arm, stopping him from chasing after Kageyama.

 Good.

 He wanted to go to this boat house alone.

 Even if Hinata _was_ in that warehouse, he wouldn't come out knowing loads of people were around, especially Suga, and Kageyama didn't want Suga finding out where Hinata was. He was thankful that Oikawa had helped him out and had been vague about details. He was hoping Oikawa would turn out to be a person he could trust. He needed _someone_ in this town.

 Finding the boat house took a while. He ended up on the wrong side of the lagoon, which was a shallow body of water that was separated from the sea by barrier islands and reefs.

 The boat house itself was quite small, made entirely from wood and looked ancient. It was rickety and on the verge of collapsing, standing a little over the water on wooden beams. Discarded boat parts lay scattered around the shop front, and everything was covered in moss and ivy.

 It puzzled him, how Oikawa had seen Hinata coming into this place (why Hinata would come here was another mystery in itself), it wasn't anywhere near the beach and you had to take a little back alley route to get to it, as it was stood on its own, away from any of the main buildings.

 Taking a deep breath, Kageyama strode towards the door and pushed it open. The smell hit him almost at once and he had to duck back out again and try to stop himself from throwing up.

 He pulled his sleeve over his hand and pressed it to his mouth again before daring to go back inside.

 It wasn't the smell of the old shack that was bothering him, although he could tell it was damp and full of mould.

 What was bothering him and making him want to hurl was the fly-covered body that was lying in the middle of the room, slightly swollen from the puddle of water it had been dumped in. The flesh was a horrible greying, pinky colour, with fat purple veins visible and a lot of dark yellowing bruises and there were maggots crawling over it.

 Kageyama actually vomited this time, just outside the door. He couldn't hold it in.

 He recognised the man. It was the attacker from the first night.

 How long had he been dead?

 Kageyama knew very little about body decomposition, but this couldn't have been from today, which meant this man is not the figure he saw in the school's upper floor window. He had to have been dead for a few days, at least.

 There was a huge chunk of flesh missing from his neck, which is where Kageyama suspected the fox had bitten him, but it was the sliced throat that must have killed him. He was covered in congealed blood, it had soaked his clothing and mixed with the dirty puddle water, making it turn a horrible red-brown colour.

 Also, his eyes were missing. He just had two black holes in his face where they had once been.

 Suddenly, Kageyama realised why Oikawa had sent him there. He hadn't seen Hinata here at all, but instead, he'd found this body. He wasn't sure how Oikawa had stumbled across this, but the way he'd spoken about Suga, he had to assume that it was Suga who had killed this man.

 Suga was the one who said he's spoken to the police about it. He'd lied to cover his own tracks.

 He must have murdered this man because he didn't want him to try and kill Kageyama again. He needed Kageyama to hunt down Hinata.

 That was it.

 He couldn't stay in the inn any longer.

 While Oikawa had Suga, he would run back and get his stuff together and leave. Maybe if he went to find Oikawa again, he'd give him a place to stay and help him find Hinata.

 Wiping his mouth, he left the shack and tried to suppress a shudder. He was surely going to have nightmares about that.

 When he arrived at the coffee shop, he found it empty. The reception was empty too. He was thankful for this and hurried upstairs to grab his stuff, but it had all gone. His bad wasn't there anymore, nor any of his clothing, and that meant his money as well. He had no way to get out of town now, he couldn't catch a bus without paying for it.

 Swearing very loudly, he kicked the bed and stormed down the stairs. He tried to open the basement door, but it was locked tight.

 He'd had enough of this.

 Jumping behind the reception desk, he picked up the phone and dialled the emergency services. When he was connected through, he asked for the police.

 'Hello, you've reached Sunshine Bay Police Station, what is your emergency?' A friendly-voiced woman asked.

 Sunshine Bay was the nearest town to here. This was the name on the map instead of Sunshine Harbour, as his mother had told him the two places used to just be one until they decided they were too far apart and should be separate.

 'I need to report a murder.'

 'Okay. Can I ask for your location?'

 'I'm at the Sugar Cup coffee shop and inn, in Sunshine Harbour. I suspect the owner is the one who killed him, but I can't talk on the phone. When the police arrive, you need to head to the lagoon to the west of the centre of town and find the old abandoned boat rental shop. That's where I found the body. He's had his throat slashed.'

 'Sir, can I ask you to calm down, can I take your name?'

 'Tobio Kageyama.'

 'And you're in Sunshine Bay?'

 'No, I'm in Sunshine _Harbour_.'

 There was a long pause. 'I'm sorry Sir, can you repeat that?'

 'Sunshine Harbour.'

 Another pause. 'Are you sure you have the correct location Sir?'

 'Yes. Why?'

 'There is no place named Sunshine Harbour. It doesn't exist.'

  Kageyama stared at the phone. What on Earth? How could it not exist? He was standing in it!

 'I'm in Sunshine Harbour! It's near Sunshine Bay, further North, beyond the mountains.'

 'Sir, there is nothing beyond those mountains. Sunshine Harbour doesn't exist. I'm going to trace your call, hold on a moment,' she fell silent for a while, and eventually picked up again, sounding a little concerned. 'I cannot locate your call, Sir. You are on an untraceable line.'

 'There's a bus stop at the edge of the mountains, do you know that? Can you find that?'

 'Yes.'

  'If you follow the path through the mountains, you get to Sunshine Harbour.'

  'Hold on one moment, please.' The line went quiet again. Another person picked up, a man this time. He sounded gruff.

 'What kind of game do you think you're playing?'

 'I'm not!' Kageyama was getting angry now. Why did they not think this town existed? 'Come to the bus stop, I'll meet you there and bring you into the town myself!'

 'Listen, kid, I've been hiking in those mountains, recently too, and I have seen the area you think you're in, but there's nothing there. It's just forest and it's closed off to the public because it's full of wild animals. I will contact the local rangers and have them check it out, because I'm not risking the life of my men and women if you're pulling some kind of prank. I can't trace your number, so phone me back tomorrow and I'll tell you if we find anything.'

 He hung up, leaving Kageyama in a daze.

 How could Sunshine Harbour not exist?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> (PS. There is no info about Oikawa's family so I just made it up, but it's not really important)


	8. Hinata Returns

Suga couldn't deny him answers now. He was going to demand to know what the hell the police meant about Sunshine Harbour not existing and what the deal was with the body in the boat shop. However, finding Suga was turning out to be a more difficult task than he'd originally hoped.

 He'd headed back to the warehouse area after searching around the inn once more, hoping he'd run into anyone he could speak to first, but no one he recognised was there. The other guests all gave him worried glances and kept their distance.

 The warehouse Oikawa had taken him to was empty. He'd gone inside, feeling a little scared, wondering if he'd see Hinata, but it was completely barren. It didn't look like anyone had been squatting here at all and the two men he'd left behind earlier were nowhere to be seen.

 Thinking they'd gone back to the school, he ran there, but that was locked up. He paused momentarily, wondering whether he dared venture back inside and go into that top classroom again, but he didn't want to. He didn't want to face whatever was lurking in the shadows, ready to hurt him.

 Kageyama went to the beach next, where he found Tanaka and Noya sunbathing. He approached them hurriedly, asking if they'd seen Suga. They both said no, and asked him where he'd been.

 'We were worried about you, Kags,' Tanaka sniffed, wiping his nose on the back of his hand, making Kageyama grimace. 'Suga was losing his shit. Oh, and he told me to tell you he moved your stuff into the basement, just for safe keeping.'

 'Suga should be at the coffee shop, where he always is.' Noya yawned, rolling onto his front. He had weird markings on his back, like faded scars. 

 'No, the last time I saw him, he was speaking with Oikawa.'

 At these words, both boys jumped to their feet, staring at Kageyama in panic. 'You what? He was with Oikawa? And he hasn't come back?'

 'I'm going to go look! You go inform Tsukishima and Daichi.' Noya ordered and took off down the beach as fast as his tiny legs would carry him.

 'What's going on? Why are you so panicked?'

 'You shouldn't have left him with Oikawa! Whatever Oikawa tells you, you can't trust it. He's manipulative and a liar and a smarmy, bastard who gets all the ladies fawning over him. Stupid pretty boy.' Tanaka spat bitterly, getting a little too personal about his feelings towards Oikawa. 'But at least Kikoyo isn't interested in him! Anyway, whatever, I need to go find Tsukishima! He'll be able to find Suga in no time, no one knows the town better than him. You go talk to Daichi!'

 'Wait a moment-' But Tanaka had already sped off, leaving Kageyama alone on the beach.

  He would speak to Daichi, actually. He'd demand answers from him instead, and threaten to go to the police if he didn't hear what he wanted. 

 It didn't take him long to get back to the inn. He banged on the basement door until he heard footsteps and a shirtless, half-asleep Daichi appeared, looking sullen. He mumbled, rubbing his eyes. 'Kageyama? What is it?'

 'I want a word with you.' Kageyama tried to make himself look bigger. Daichi was so broad and toned that he was certain he'd be able to break his neck in a heartbeat if he wanted to. 'Can we go into the coffee shop?'

 'What time is it?'

 'Mid-day, ish.'

 'No, no, we'll talk in here. The light will hurt my eyes, I've been asleep. Let me adjust.' He took a seat behind the reception desk and turned his gaze upon Kageyama. There was something vaguley alluring about Daichi, and he couldn't quite figure it out. He had to assume it was because he was topless.

 Immediately, he felt guilty about admiring other men when Hinata was still, technically, his boyfriend.

 'You really scared us last night, you know. I was out looking for you. We all were.'

 'So, what, you can keep me locked up here like some prisoner at night so I don't go snooping where I'm not supposed to be, or stumble across... things, I'm not supposed to see, is that it? Because you might as well just come clean now. I know.'

 The look on Daichi's face was one of pure shock. He could barely get words out. 'You know?'

 'Yes. I found the body.'

  Now Daichi looked confused. 'Body?'

  It infuriated Kageyama. 'Don't act dumb! I bet you're in on it, whatever you are to Suga. What does he want Shoyo for? I know his parents had some vendetta against the Hinata family, and that's why they had his parents killed! Whatever Suga is out to do to Shoyo, I'm not going to let it happen.'

 'Woah, woah, slow down. Where on Earth have you been getting this information from? It's a pack of lies.' Daichi was on his feet. Kageyama folded his arms, trying to look as threatening as possible. 'The Hinata's and the Sugawara's have always gotten along, they've been friends for centuries. There was no rivalry between them. Where did you hear this?'

 'I spoke to Oikawa-'

 Daichi's face fell and he grabbed Kageyama by the shoulders. 'Do not speak to Oikawa. Ever. Do not go near him. Oh Christ, we were trying to keep you away from him.'

 Now Kageyama was confused. 'Why? What the Hell is going on? He told me to stay away from Suga and you lot, and honestly, it's him I'm believing at the moment. You have done nothing but lie to me and keep me in the dark, and now that body turns up after Suga said he'd spoken to the police about it, which can't be true because I rang the police and they said no such place called Sunshine Harbour exists. How? Why are they saying that? Tell me!'

 'Go back to the part about the body, because you've lost me there.'

 'That man that attacked me the first night, I found his body in the abandoned boat shop. He had a huge chunk missing from his neck, which I suspect was the work of that fox, but then his throat had also been cut. He's just been dumped there. I found it because Oikawa told me to go there.'

 'Christ, ok. I'll get Tsukishima to sort that out-'

 'No! You're not just going to cover it up! I've already rang the police about it-'

 'They're not going to come. They can't.'

 'Why not? Why does this town not exist to them?'

 Daichi sighed and slumped back down in the chair, running his hands through his short dark hair. 'It's better you don't know.'

 Kageyama was ready to flip the desk over. His blood was boiling. 'Don't treat me like a child. I need to know what the fuck is wrong with this stupid town. Did Suga kill that man?'

 'No.'

 Kageyama scoffed. 'Well, _you_ would say that. You're all in on it, aren't you? I'm going to go to Sunshine Bay and bring the police here myself-'

 'Kageyama, did you ever stop to think for a second that Oikawa is the one who placed that body there. Suga isn't a murderer, and I can account for his whereabouts for the majority of this week. He's doing this on purpose, he wants you to mistrust us, mistrust Suga, so that you'll leave the safety of this inn. We are trying to protect you. This town is dangerous.'

 'Then why die Suga lie about it? About speaking to the police?'

 'Because he knew it would settle you, that you wouldn't go looking for trouble if you knew the police were handling it. Can't you see, we are doing everything in our power to keep you safe. Why would we want anything bad to happen to you?'

 'You don't, you want me to find Shoyo.'

 'We want you to find Hinata so that you can leave this town and never look back. You shouldn't have come here in the first place.'

 That's when the inn door burst open and Daichi jumped back in alarm. Tsukishima and Tanaka entered, both looking sweaty and out of breath. Daichi stared from one to the other. 'What's going on?'

 'Suga's vanished.'

 The look on Daichi's face was one of pure horror, mingled with disbelief. 'W-what? What do you mean? Vanished? Where?'

 'If we knew that, he wouldn't have said he'd 'vanished',' Tsukishima couldn't help put point out. He took off his glasses and wiped them on his t-shirt. He stopped to glare at Kageyama momentarily, as though it were all his fault Suga had disappeared. 'I've searched the whole town-'

 'How? I only spoke to Tanaka about ten minutes ago.'

 'I told you, Tsukishima knows this town better than anyone.'

 'As I was saying,' Tsukishima looked annoyed about being rudely interrupted. 'I can't find him anywhere. I've got Yamaguchi still on the look-out, Noya and Asahi too, but he's completely disappeared, Daichi.'

 'It's not a missing person until they've been gone over twenty-four hours.' Kageyama decided to point out, to which he received three very angry death glares.

 'Don't act like you know better than me. You keep throwing around your stupid, wild theories when in reality you know nothing.' Tsukishima snapped. Tanaka nodded in agreement. 'It's your fault Suga has gone.'

 'My fault?'

 'Why is it his fault?' Daichi asked, looking serious. Tsukishima sighed.

 'Suga found out he was with Oikawa and went after him, to _protect_ him. Kageyama ran off on his own and left Suga alone with Oikawa.'

 Without realising what was happening, Kageyama was suddenly lifted off his feet and slammed into the nearest wall. Daichi had him by the throat, mimicking how they had first met, and was looking very, very angry. 'YOU LEFT SUGA WITH OIKAWA?'

 'Woah, Daichi, calm down! He didn't know! He'd only just met Oikawa, how could he-'

 'I told Suga I didn't want you here!' Daichi shouted, slamming Kageyama again, banging his head. Stars span in front of his eyes. 'I told him you were trouble, I told him you'd bring us nothing but bad news, and now look what's happened. After everything Suga has done for you, he's put his life on the line to keep you here, to keep you safe, and you let Oikawa take him!'

 He threw Kageyama to the floor. Tsukishima rolled his eyes and took a seat on the desk, watching the fight. Tanaka looked a little torn. Kageyama tried to sit up, but Daichi pushed him back down.

 'If it were up to me, I'd throw you out right now, but I know that would upset Suga. So, for his sake, to not make any of his efforts go to waste, I'm going to let you stay here until the next bus comes on the opposite side of the mountains in a week. You will _not_ leave this inn and you will _not_ search for Hinata. If we find him, we'll bring him to you. If he hasn't shown up in a week, you're getting on that bus alone.'

 'Fuck off.' Kageyama spat, crawling away so he could get up. He stumbled a little. 'I'm not leaving without Shoyo.'

 'You think I can't make you?' Daichi rounded on him but Tanaka jumped in between them. He put his hands on Daichi's shoulders.

 'Calm down, Daichi! We're going to find Suga. If anyone can handle Oikawa, it's him. Are your hands alright?'

 'They're stinging.' Daichi said, looking down at his palms. Kageyama huffed- it was his own fault for being too rough. His neck was aching him where Daichi had squeezed a little too tight. 'It's fine. I'm calm.'

 'I'll go have another look.' Tsukishima jumped to his feet and left the inn without another word. Daichi kicked the chair over.

 'I'm so useless. I can't do anything.'

 Kageyama had no idea what he was talking about, but he didn't want to know. He wasn't going to stay in this inn and be bossed around. He turned and marched into the coffee shop, hearing shouts follow him but he didn't care.

 Tanaka came running after him, but Daichi lingered in the doorway, looking pissed. Tanaka jumped in front of him, blocking his path. 'Woah, woah, easy now, Kags. You're going to seriously piss Daichi off and you _really_ don't want to do that.'

 'I'm going to go search for Suga. Is that good enough for you?'

 'No. You're not. You're staying here.' Daichi snapped, still not entering the coffee shop. Kageyama raised an eyebrow at him.

 'Listen to me, Kags. It's been a week and you still haven't found Hinata, and honestly, you've been doing a pretty terrible job about it. We've been keeping an eye on you, you know.' Tanaka pushed Kageyama down into a seat and then quickly wiped his hands on his trousers, as though Kageyama had left dirt on his palms. 'I'm no good at coffee, but I can try. Or would you rather have milk? That'd be easier for me to do. You want a drink, Daichi?'

 'No.' He said from the doorway. He was leaning against the frame, still scowling at Kageyama, who returned the expression.

 'Maybe if Suga kept himself to himself, he wouldn't be in this situation.' Kageyama snapped, only making Daichi even more furious.

 'You selfish little-'

 'He could have just let me get on with trying to find Shoyo, instead of trying to butt in all the time.'

  'If it wasn't for Suga you'd be dead! If that attacker didn't kill you, that wolf would have!' Daichi shouted. Kageyama frowned.

 'How did Suga have anything to do with saving me from that?'

 Tanaka dumped a glass of milk in front of Kageyama. He didn't want it, so he pushed it away from him, which made Tanaka tut and scrape over a chair so he could sit at the table too. He had poured himself a beer but wasn't drinking it.

 'You're so clueless.' Tanaka snorted. Kageyama sighed.

 'Maybe if someone actually filled me in-'

 'You don't need to know. You need to leave.' Daichi snapped and turned his back on the pair of them. 'If he tries to leave, Tanaka, come and tell me. I'm getting tired standing here so I am going back to bed.'

 'Shows how much you care about Suga-'

 'DON'T!' Daichi punched the wall. 'Don't you dare tell me how much I care about Suga. If I could, I'd be out looking for him, but I can't. Not yet.'

 He disappeared back down the basement stairs, slamming the door behind him. Tanaka put his feet up on the table, sighing dramatically.

 'You've really dug yourself into a deep grave, ya' know. Honestly, I know you don't believe it 'cos this town is shady as fuck, and I'm aware of that, but we are doing our best to keep a look out on ya'. We're looking for Hinata too. That's where Suga sent me the first day you came here, to try and find him. He was worried. He doesn't think Hinata sent you that feather.'

 'He must have done. He's the only one who knows-'

 'According to you, but he'd been gone, what, a year? For all you know, he could have told someone. There's someone who wants you dead, and Suga suspects they used that postcard to lure you to this town.'

 'I saw Shoyo! He is here. It has to be him.' Kageyama stared down into his milk. A fly had landed in it. 'Who wants me dead?'

 'The same people who want your father dead.'

 Kageyama's head shot up. He almost knocked the table, making milk spill over the sides of the glass. 'You know my father?'

 'No. Not personally. I just know of it. I can't tell ya', so don't ask. That's up to Suga.' Tanaka scratched at the little bit of exposed belly where his shirt had risen up. 'But just trust us when we say it's not safe. I think you've cottoned on to that much already.'

  His mind had jumped back to the incident in the school. He told Tanaka about it, who didn't really look shocked. He just sort of nodded. 'Not surprising.'

 'What's that supposed to mean?'

 'Sounds like something they'd do.' 

 'Who are these people?! Tell me!' 

 'I told ya'! I can't! It's up to Suga! And he doesn't think you're ready for the truth. So quit askin' me.' Tanaka huffed and picked up his beer. He took a sip. 'You're a real pain in the ass, ya' know.'

 'I don't want to be here! All I want to do is find Shoyo! And I don't care what Daichi says, I am not leaving this town without him!' He shouted this last part a little too loudly.

 A tinkling sound made him jump. The coffee shop door opened and someone stepped inside. Tanaka dropped his glass and it smashed as it hit the floor, soaking the floor in beer. Kageyama whipped around and his mouth fell open. Both of the boys rose to their feet, staring at the intruder in pure shock.

 Orange hair and vivid orange eyes. Short. 

 But it wasn't Shoyo Hinata.

 'Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt, I just heard you say you were looking for Shoyo. Do you happen to know where he is? I'm his little sister, Natsu.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOP WOOP  
> FEMALE HINATA IN THE HOUSE


	9. Natsu Hinata

A long silence followed as the two boys continued to gawk at the female stood in the doorway. She looked rather uncomfortable and shuffled her feet, waiting for them to say something.

 Eventually, when she'd decided they weren't going to speak first, she sighed and walked over where they were sat and pulled up a chair, indicating for them to sit down. They responded without a word and she folded her hands neatly in front of her.

 She was the splitting image of her brother, the same short, messy hair, the same eyes, the same smile, even the same height. The only difference was she was female in gender and had a slightly different frame to Hinata. She was incredibly pretty (but then Kageyama would think that, considering he was dating her brother).

 Her clothing was torn and filthy. She had large patches of a black oil-like substance on her jeans and her t-shirt was ripped. Tanaka offered her his jacket, which she accepted gratefully, even though it was too big for her.

 Kageyama finally found his words. 'I don't understand. How do you know Shoyo is here?'

 Natsu paused for a moment. It looked like she was thinking about her next words carefully. 'It's a long story.'

 'We have time.'

  She sighed.

  Seeing her this close up made Kageyama's chest spike with pain. Why wasn't it her brother sat in that chair? Why did she have to resemble him so much?

 'You,' Tanaka reached over to put his hands on her face. She looked a little startled. 'HAVE GROWN SO MUCH!'

 He grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. She couldn't help but laugh, before pushing him away. 'I missed you too, Tanaka.'

  _Did everyone in this town know each other?_

'What happened? Where did you and your brother go?' He asked, both of them ignoring Kageyama's existence for the moment. She made a thoughtful expression that was identical to one Hinata would make. 'You just up and left so suddenly.'

 'Well-' She began, but Kageyama cut her off.

 'Why did you never live with Shoyo? Were you in Angel's Haven?'

 She shook her head. 'We went separate ways.'

 'But you were what, eleven? Ten? How old are you? Seventeen? Sixteen? How could you have lived by yourself at such a young age? Why didn't you stay with your brother? What happened to your parents? Do you know who killed them? Do you know Shoyo's been missing for over a year?' The questions poured out of his mouth as soon as he thought them up, and Natsu was struggling to keep up. She raised both hands, trying to get him to slow down.

 'I'll tell you! Just calm down!' She said, before asking Tanaka if he could fetch her some water. He sprang to his feet immediately and hurried behind the bar, returning moments later with a glass. She took a long drink before answering. 'Well, to start with, Mister, I'm not going to talk about my parent's deaths. It was a long time ago and I don't like to think about it, so please don't ask me. It was an awful time and me and Shoyo couldn't stay in this town any longer, so we decided to make a fresh start somewhere else. We took what was left of our parents money and skipped town.'

 'But why did you separate? Wouldn't it be safer for you to live with your brother, especially as a child? Anyone could have tried to hurt you, or pick you up. How could you survive on your own?'

 Natsu turned to look at Tanaka. 'He doesn't know anything, does he?'

 'Nope.' Tanaka shook his head, folding his arms behind his neck. 'And it's better he doesn't.'

 Kageyama slammed his fist onto the table. 'I'm so tired of this! Stop keeping secrets from me!'

 'Calm down, please!' Natsu begged. 'I'm telling you, aren't I? How do you know my brother anyway? You're not the sort he'd want to hang out with.'

 'What do you mean by that?!' Kageyama snapped, ready to rise from his seat but Tanaka shot him a warning glance. He huffed and remained seated. 'I'm his boyfriend. Or I was, until he vanished. I don't even know what he wants me to do.'

 'Shoyo has a boyfriend?!' Natsu's eyes lit up the same way Hinata's did when he was happy. Kageyama couldn't look at her. He stared at his feet. 'That's so wonderful! Oh my, did he give you that feather?'

 She was pointing to the pendant hanging around his neck. Kageyama nodded. 'Yeah.'

 'Well... if Shoyo can trust you, then so can I.' She flung her arms around his neck, making him almost fall off his chair. She let go pretty quickly. Tanaka was moaning.

 'Hey! Where's my hug?'

 'You just had one, Tanaka!' She giggled. He pouted.

 'You didn't hug me back properly! I want a proper hug! Come on!'

 Natsu willingly gave him another 'proper' hug before reseating herself. She looked a lot happier. 'What's your name, Mister?'

 'Tobio Kageyama.'

 She tapped her lip for a moment. 'Nope, never heard of you.'

 Kageyama raised an eyebrow. 'Would there be a reason for you to have known me?'

 'Nope. Anyway! Where was I? Oh yes, me and Shoyo. We both ended up going to our cousin's farm-' A farm? _Really_? That sounded like a typical, fake story, but he let her continue. '-I liked it, ya' know. The animals were cute. Shoyo, not so much. He constantly said he wanted to go live in a town again, he didn't like the countryside. One day, he just left and took all the remaining money we had. He always wrote to me, told me he was safe.'

 'Did he mention me?'

 'He said he was seeing someone, but that was about it.' She froze a moment, frowning. 'Wait, you said he was missing? What do you mean? You don't know where he is?'

 Kageyama pulled out the postcard he kept in his back pocket and showed it to her. She looked absolutely appalled and like she was about to cry. She gritted her teeth and placed it on the table, not looking at either of the two boys. 'Explain, please.'

 'He just vanished one day. No note, no phone call, nothing. I contacted the police but they couldn't do anything to help me, and told me that there were no contact details for his family and that a Mr. and Mrs. Hinata didn't exist on their records. I guess it's because they're dead.' He said, without being delicate about the topic. Natsu didn't seem bothered by it, she was still staring at the postcard, her eyes glistening. 'I had no idea what happened until one day I got this postcard in the mail and realised the feather was the same as the one he'd given me. I knew it was a sign that he wanted me to come to this town, to find him, because we're the only ones who know about what the feather means to each other.'

 'You're a really good boyfriend,' she said, wiping her eyes. 'To have come here to look for him. I am really glad Shoyo has you looking out for him.'

 'I've got his back too!' Tanaka wanted to be part of the moment. Natsu laughed.

 'I'm glad.' She sniffed. 'And you haven't found him?'

 'No.' Kageyama shook his head. 'I saw him, though. A few nights ago. He ran away from me. I keep looking, but he's not appeared again. I'm concerned about him, do you know anything? How did you know he's in this town?'

 'Yeah, why are you here?' Tanaka asked. Natsu shrugged.

 'Honestly, I'm not really sure. I don't remember much. I don't even know what day it is, or the date.' When Tanaka told her, she gasped and put a hand over her mouth. 'A whole year?'

 'Wait, what?'

 'That's the last thing I properly remember, a year ago, more or less, I saw this figure coming towards me and then I blacked out. What have I been doing for a whole year? Where have I been?' She looked very stressed by this news and Tanaka tried to comfort her. 'And Hinata has gone too? What if someone took him, or attacked him, like they did me?'

 She'd started to cry again.

 'Does anyone have some kind of vendetta against the Hinata family?' Kageyama questioned. Natsu shrugged.

 'My parent's maybe, but that was a long time ago. Why would anyone care about us?'

 'Could they want the entire family dead?'

 Natsu started to wail and Tanaka glared at Kageyama like it was all his fault. 'D-d-don't t-tell me Shoyo's dead.'

 'No, no! He's not! I promise!'

 'Then where is he?'

 Kageyama couldn't answer this question. He put his head in his hands and leaned on the tabletop, trying to comprehend everything Natsu had just told him. Could Hinata have been kidnapped as well?

 'You don't remember anything from this year, at all? No faces come to mind?' Tanaka was asking her. She chewed her lip.

 'There are some things, but I can't quite remember. It's all blurry. Figures are moving, but I can't put a name to them.' She rubbed at her eyes with Tanaka's floppy sleeve. He still had an arm around her. 'I want Shoyo back.'

 'If you were kidnapped,' Kageyama said, sitting up straight. 'Why did they let you go? Why are you here now? Where did you come from, which part of the town?'

 'Oh, I woke up in some abandoned factory. I was alone and there was nothing around me. I realised where I was the moment I stepped out the building and my first instinct was to come here and speak with Suga,' she said, looking around as though she was hoping he'd walk into the room. 'I overheard you talking about my brother and I was wondering if you knew where he was. I thought maybe if Shoyo was here, then maybe he was up to something, but now I'm scared. Where's Suga? I want to speak with him, please.'

 Both Tanaka and Kageyama exchanged worried glances, which she noticed. She looked a little panicked. Tanaka tried to calm her. 'It's fine, he's just... gone somewhere and not told us. We're having trouble tracking him down.'

 'Oh no! What if he's been taken too!' She began to sob again and buried her face into Tanaka's shoulders. He looked pained, as though he didn't know what to say that would comfort her.

 'We'll find him, I promise.' Kageyama said. 'And Shoyo, too. He's definitely in this town, I just need to figure out what he wants me to do. He must have sent me this postcard for a reason.'

 'Kageyama, I don't want to burst your bubble,' she sat up, her eyes red and puffy. 'But I don't think my brother sent you that postcard.'

 It was as though someone had just stabbed him repeatedly in the chest with a sharp knife. He blinked, confused, then decided she was wrong. 'No, it has to be him. Who else would know? This was our thing.'

 'He could have told someone you know.' Tanaka pointed out and Kageyama glared at him. He clutched the feather in his hand, feeling his heart beating against his ribs.

 Who else would send him a feather?

 And why?

 Had they gotten information out of Hinata?

 But who would be after him? He could understand it if someone was going after the remaining Hinata members, if there had been some kind of beef with the parents a few years ago, but _him_?

 Unless his father had something to do with it?

  'I think you should leave town, Kageyama.' Natsu said to him, her face suddenly serious. 'It's not safe here.'

 'I'm not leaving without Shoyo.'

 'I'll find him. I'll bring him back to you, wherever you are. Just please, leave.'

 Kageyama was on his feet. The chair had toppled over behind him. 'I'm sorry, Natsu, but I'm not going anywhere until I have him back. I'm getting tired of people keeping secrets from me, and lying to me, and I was hoping you'd be different, but I guess anyone from this town is just the same. I'm going to go search for him.'

  He turned to go but Natsu was up and in front of him. 'You're going to get yourself killed, Kageyama. Do you think that's what Shoyo would want? Do you honestly think he'd call you to _this_ town, knowing the dangers that lie here?'

 'He needs me. He needs me to help him.'

 She was doing her best to try and push him back, but he was bigger and stronger than she was. He'd reached the door in no time. 'I don't think that's true, Kageyama! I'm sorry, but I think someone is playing you! Please, don't get yourself into a trap!'

 'Then why did I see Shoyo?! Why was he watching me? Tell me that!'

 Natsu fell away from him, looking tiny and timid. 'I don't know. I don't have answers for you. I'm sorry, but please, trust me.'

 Kageyama sighed. 'I'm sorry, Natsu, but the only person in this town I can trust is Shoyo, and nothing is going to stop me from finding him and getting him out of here. Even if I die, I don't care, as long as he's okay.'

 To his surprise, Natsu was smiling. 'You really love him, don't you?'

 'Yes.' He didn't even hesitate to answer this.

  'Is Daichi here?' She asked out of the blue. Tanaka and Kageyama nodded, and she took hold of the hem of Kageyama's shirt. 'Can you wait a while, please, before you go rushing off anywhere? I want to come with you, to help you look, but I want to speak to Daichi first. Is that alright?'

 Kageyama grumbled but said 'ok'.

 He waited with Tanaka while Natsu disappeared down into the basement to speak with Daichi, who came back up with her about half an hour later, still in his pyjamas (although he'd thrown a top on this time). He leaned against the doorframe again and considered Kageyama briefly.

 'I'm going to allow you to go out with Natsu and keep searching for Hinata. However, if you see any signs of danger, or possible threat, you come straight back here.'

 'Wouldn't it be safer for me to go on my own?' Kageyama asked, not wanting to offend Natsu, but having to look after her as well was only making his job for difficult. He didn't want her to get hurt because she was with him. Daichi shook his head.

 'No. Keep Natsu with you at all times.' He yawned. 'And if  you see any sign of Suga at all, you come back here and tell me. Tanaka, I want you to go look for Suga as well. Go ask Kiyoko and Yachi if they've seen anything.'

 'Yes, Sir!' Tanaka army-saluted and whizzed out the door. Anything to see the two pretty girls.

 Kageyama approached the door, waiting for Natsu to join him. Daichi was leaning over her shoulder, muttering in her ear. Kageyama caught a few words - 'Keep an eye on him.'

 He decided not to mention this to her when they left the Sugar Cup together. He didn't trust Daichi very much, but he felt he could trust her. She wouldn't be out to hurt her brother, surely. The way she'd cried about it when he'd said Hinata was missing, that had to have been genuine.

 'Tell me about Shoyo. I want to know what he was like, when you lived here. Where did you live? Where was your house? Can we go there?'

 'You ask too many questions.' She took hold of the hem of his shirt again and lead him away from the coffee shop, heading in the direction of the residential area of town. 'Our house isn't here anymore. It was burnt down. I'm sorry to disappoint you. As for my brother, he was quite loud, very chatty, always full of energy and he was usually always happy. The first time I had ever seen him properly down was after our parents had died. It was horrible.'

 Nothing changed then. That was the same Hinata he knew. He was glad Hinata had not changed his personality to fit around Kageyama.

 'I don't suppose it's worth asking if you know who these people are?'

 'Daichi said I shouldn't tell you.'

 Kageyama glared ahead. 'Of course he did.'

 'You don't trust them, do you? I understand, they're keeping things from you, but I hope you'll believe me when I say they have no bad intentions. They're looking out for you.' She tried to give him a warm smile but he couldn't stand to look at her. Why did she have to look like him? 'I can tell why my brother likes you.'

 'R-really?'

 'Yeah. You're completely loyal, for one, and you are very strong-willed and passionate. He likes that in people. You're also quite handsome.'

 Kageyama ended up spluttering his thanks. He'd never had a girl call him handsome before. Most girls were afraid of him.

 As they walked around, he quizzed her about Hinata as much as possible, asking for stories about him as a kid, how life had been originally in Sunshine Harbour, if she knew about the whole 'town not existing thing' - to which she'd clammed up and said it was a real town, but there were reasons that other people claimed it didn't exist- and asked if she had known anything about his father, but since he couldn't give her a name, she said she had no idea.

 They crossed paths with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi during their walk. Both of them looked very tired and on the edge of panic. Tsukishima didn't bother speaking much to Kageyama, but briefly said hello to Natsu and pulled her aside to ask her a few questions, which Kageyama had no way of eavesdropping on because Yamaguchi was keeping him preoccupied by telling him how the search for Suga was going.

 'Nobody blames you, you know-' Yamaguchi was trying to say but Kageyama, who's eyes were fixed on Natsu and Tsukishima, only snorted.

 'Yeah. I don't believe that. I'm the one who was with Oikawa.'

 'You didn't know, you don't know anything about Oikawa, so we can't blame you for just talking to him. No one warned you to keep away from him, we were hoping you'd never bump into him, but I guess we were naive.' Yamaguchi gave a small friendly smile. He spoke very softly, very timidly. 'I know you're confused and this whole thing is really stupid, but there are reasons you can't know.'

 'I've heard that enough times. I'm going to find out on my own, so you might as well just tell me now.'

 'I'm sorry, Kageyama, I promised Suga.'

 Was Suga the ringleader?

 'Whatever. I'll do it myself.' He tried to turn away but Yamaguchi blocked his path. He went to grab Kageyama's arm but changed his mind.

 'Oikawa is dangerous.'

 'I've also been told that, but how dangerous can a gym coach be?'

 Yamaguchi sighed, and was ready to say something else, but Tsukishima was at his side, his glasses flashing in the sunlight. He took Yamaguchi by the arm. 'Come on. We need to keep looking. Remember what I said, Natsu.'

 'Yes.'

 The pair of them left. Yamaguchi cast a glance back over his shoulder, looking saddened, but Tsukishima snapped at him and he faced front again. Kageyama immediately demanded to know what Tsukishima had told her, but she shook her head and said there was no point in him asking, she'd sworn secrecy.

 'Suga will tell you, when he thinks you're ready.'

 'I'm ready now!'

 Natsu laughed. 'If you knew the truth, you wouldn't be.'

 'How can I ever know the truth if Suga's been kidnapped or whatever? Is Tsukishima certain Oikawa took him? Why would Oikawa take him, what business does he have with Suga?'

  'Suga will be alright. He's tough.' Natsu said, walking down the street, stopping to look at her surroundings. 'It feels weird being back here. I shouldn't be here, I vowed I would never come back. Shoyo did too. That's why I just can't believe it's him who sent that card to you, because he would never have wanted you to come here. Not if he loved you.'

 Not wanting to question his boyfriend's love for him, Kageyama decided not to think about who sent that postcard. It didn't matter right now, because he'd seen Hinata and he knew he was in this town. All he needed to do was find out where.

 'Can you take me to the place you woke up?' Kageyama asked, all of a sudden. Natsu looked taken back but nodded, and said they'd need to go the industrial area. 'That's where I last saw Suga. He was with Oikawa.'

 Kageyama told her the story of meeting Oikawa.

 'I wonder why he wanted to take you there.' Natsu puzzled, leading the way. 'It seems a little pointless.'

 'What do you mean by that?'

 'Oh. It's nothing. Ignore me.' She forced herself to laugh. It was the same thing Hinata did when he was nervous and having to lie about something. 'It's just, I don't see why Oikawa would want to talk to you... currently.'

 'That doesn't make sense to me. You're going to have to explain what you mean or stop talking about it, because it's driving me mad.'

 'Sorry. I have a habit of just speaking what's on my mind.'

 Just like her brother.

 'You're not hurt or anything are you? Do you feel tired or malnourished? If you've been in some kind of ... coma, for a year?' He scanned what he could see of her body. She still had Tanaka's jacket on. She looked in decent health.

 'I'm fine.' She said, showing him her hands as if this proved it. 'Nothing hurts. No cuts or bruises. Everything's good. I don't feel hungry or sleepy. I could do with a bath though.'

 They'd reached the industrial estate. They entered through the gate and Natsu took him to the same warehouse that Oikawa had tried to lead him into. He stopped in his tracks when she opened the door. She peered back at him, confused. 'What is it?'

 'This is where Oikawa took me. He said Hinata was inside.' Then it clicked in his head. 'He couldn't have meant you, could he? But why would he want me to find you? No, that can't be right, because I came back to this place to look for Suga and it was empty. He would have just left you there if he wanted me to find you. Do you know Oikawa well? Is that the face you saw take you?'

 Natsu shrugged. 'I honestly don't remember, I can't answer your questions. I don't see why Oikawa would want you to find me. That doesn't make sense.'

 She poked her head around the door.

 'Come on, it's empty.' She entered the building and Kageyama took a few moments before following her in, feeling a little on edge. Something didn't feel right. Warning bells were ringing. He didn't think she would be up to anything, but there was definitely something wrong.

 'Natsu, I think we should go back to the coffee shop.' He said, letting his instincts tell him what to do. He hurried in after her. She was stood in the centre of the factory floor, staring around at the rusted pipes and scattered rubbish. Other than boxes and crates, there was little in here. The light was minimal, some slivers of sunlight sneaking in through the cracks in the boards over the windows.

 He didn't have his phone anymore, so he couldn't use the light on that. He should have asked for a torch.

 'This is where I was lying. Just in the middle, here.' She turned on the spot, as though looking for some kind of clue. 'I don't get it. Why would they want me?'

 'Who is they?'

 'I've already said-'

 'You can't answer it, I know, but I'm not going to stop trying.'

 Natsu chuckled. 'You're stubborn.'

 That's when the door slammed shut. Both Kageyama and Natsu jumped and scrambled to each other, although Natsu wouldn't let him touch her, which he found odd. Maybe a year of being locked up had done something to her?

 There was a man stood at the door. Kageyama had never seen him before. It wasn't Oikawa.

 He looked angry. His skin was darker and his hair was dark and spiky. In his hand, he held a long silver dagger.

 Suddenly, Natsu had thrown her arm out in front of Kageyama, trying to push him back and protect him. 'Get out of here. Now.'

 'I'm not going-'

 'You need to leave!' She snapped, getting completely in front of him. She pointed to the stranger. 'Do you want to fight, huh? Do have my brother? I'll beat it out of you!'

 'Stop it! He's got a knife! We both need to leave!' Kageyama tried to drag her back but she pushed him away.

 'GO!' She yelled, as the man started to walk forwards. He seemed completely calm, and wasn't saying anything. 'I'll take care of him!'

 'But, you're just-'

 'I am stronger than I look! So please, trust me and get out of here while you can!' She was begging now. The man ran at her and she ducked, trying to trip him over but he was away from her before she could attempt it. She hissed and put her arms up, ready to fight. 'Kageyama! Listen to me! Get yourself back to the Sugar Cup! Tell Daichi that Iwaizumi is attacking!'

 Iwazumi? She knew this man?

 The man known as Iwaizumi ran at her again, slashing down with his knife. Kageyama's mouth dropped open as Natsu did a perfect back flip, avoiding the swipe completely and brought her booted-foot up into Iwaizumi's chin, causing him to stumble backwards. She dropped gracefully into a crouching position, waiting for the next move.

 'You're not moving.' She shouted. Kageyama didn't want to leave her alone with this crazy man. He had a _knife_.

 If she died, or went missing, everyone would blame him again. Hinata would blame him for the death of his sister.

 Like Hell if he was going to sit back and let someone else take the fall for him. He was going to take this man on too.

Two-on-one.

 He ran at Iwaizumi and sent a swinging punch, but Iwaizumi dodged it easily and brought his knife up, which caught Kageyama's arm. He swore, jumping backwards, feeling a stinging in his arm but he didn't dare look.

 Iwaizumi had dropped the dagger. He was looking cross, but before he could do anything to Kageyama, Natsu had pounced on him and knocked him to the ground, despite her tiny size. She was sending her fists into every part of him she could hit and screaming at Kageyama to run and get some help.

 'GET DAICHI! GO! STOP WASTING TIME, I'VE GOT THIS!'

 Kageyama decided this was the better option and told Natsu to get herself out of there alive as soon as she saw the opportunity. She promised she would, that he should put some faith in her and he sped out the door and down towards the gates to exit the area, one hand clamped around the throbbing part of his arm.

 About ten minutes moments later, a scream followed and then silence.

 High up on the top of the building, Oikawa was sat watching Kageyama run towards the residential area, heading back to the Sugar Cup, just a little speck in the distance. He laughed and let his legs swing of the side of the building.

 He leaned back, looking at the boy sat crossed legged behind him, staring at the sky, looking vaguely bored with the whole situation.

 Oikawa laughed once more and got to his feet, offering his hand to the seated boy, who took it.

 'I think it's time for you and Kageyama to meet again, Shoyo.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Drama llama~


	10. Puncture Wound

Daichi was fully dressed and seated in the reception area when Kageyama came bursting through the inn door, completely out of breath and still clutching at his arm. He couldn't see any blood, which he was thankful for. He hoped it was just a graze, but he still couldn't bring himself to take a peek.

 Tsukishima was there as well, with Yamaguchi. They'd all been talking before Kageyama had barged in. They were all on their feet in seconds, demanding to know what was wrong and where Natsu was.

 'Some guy... Iwaizumi, Natsu called him, came at us with a knife. In the warehouse bit-' Before he could finish his sentence, Tsukishima had thrown on his jacket that he'd had slung over his arm and slammed the door behind him. Yamaguchi said he was going to follow Tsukishima, who was probably going to help Natsu. Daichi remained behind, waiting for Kageyama to finish his story. 'I swear I didn't leave Natsu on purpose, she told me to run to get help, she said she'd be able to take him on her own, and I tried arguing with her and fighting him myself, but he cut me, look-'

 He broke off. He'd held his arm up, but there was no cut there. There was a tiny red mark but that was it, despite there being a bit of blood on his bandaged hand.

 'Ok, he tried to cut me. It definitely grazed me.' He frowned, running a hand over his arm. That much pain from a scratch? 'Come on, we need to go help Natsu.'

 'Tsukishima and Yamaguchi will handle it.' Daichi sat back down again. He looked tired and very stressed. He put his head in his hands. Kageyama frowned at him.

 'I don't understand why you won't do anything.'

 'Just forget about it. Please.' He rubbed his eyes. There were large bags under them. 'In this state, I'm too tired to do anything. I've barely slept since Suga's gone. Tsukishima said there is no sign of him at all in town anymore. I don't know what to do.'

 'C-can I get you a drink?' Kageyama tried to be helpful. His mother always brought him a cup of hot milk when he was upset.

 'No, thank you.' Daichi sighed. He observed Kageyama over the top of his hands. 'I know how you're going to respond to this, but I need to say it again. Please, leave town. You can see for yourself just how much worse it's getting, and it's only going to continue until you are dead.'

 Kageyama placed both hands on the desk. 'Why are they trying to kill me? You need to tell me.'

 'It's complicated.'

 'Then explain.'

 'I don't think anyone wants you to find out what happened to Hinata. I think you're sticking your nose where it doesn't belong-'

 'I wish people would stop telling me that! If it's to do with Shoyo, then I deserve to know! I love him! I'm his boyfriend. You'd want to know if Suga- I mean, you do want to know what's happened to Suga! You're doing everything you can to find him- well, you say you are, although I don't understand why you haven't gone to look for him yourself.' Kageyama said quickly, wishing people would stop acting like Hinata wasn't any of his business. 'I want to marry him one day. I can't just turn my back on him, especially if he's in some kind of trouble!'

 'You're bringing nothing but trouble!' Daichi was on his feet. He and Kageyama were having a glaring death-match. 'Everyone is trying their hardest to take care of you and you won't listen to us! Suga's God knows where and now Natsu?'

 'Stop acting like it's my fault! I'd be fine if everyone just left me alone!'

 'No, you wouldn't. You'd be dead.'

 'If you're not going to help, I'm going to go back and help Natsu. I can't leave her by herself.' He turned to leave but the inn door creaked open and a small face appeared around the gap. The first thing Kageyama noticed about him was how big his eyes were.

 Then the orange hair.

 His entire body went stiff and his legs felt like jelly. He couldn't speak, his tongue felt like lead in his mouth. His hands were shaking and he felt a bit nauseous.

 This was not how he'd expected it to happen. Many scenarios had run through his imagination over the past year of meeting Shoyo Hinata again, playing miniature movies over in his head of Hinata running into his arms, them hugging, kissing, making love, but him just casually walking into the Sugar Cup Inn was not one of them.

 He gave Kageyama a large goofy grin as he closed the door behind him and rocked back and forth on the heels of his feet while he waited for someone to say something, his hands stuck in the pockets of his khaki trousers.

 'No one going to say hello?' Hinata spoke at last, laughing a little. He ran his hands through his mess of hair, looking just as cute as always. 'Hello Daichi! Long time no see! You're looking well. Well, no, you're looking tired, but I didn't want to be rude.'

 Before he could say anything else, Kageyama had grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug. He choked a little, but wrapped his arms around Kageyama and pressed his face into Kageyama's shoulder blade.

 He hadn't wanted to cry, but Kageyama couldn't help himself. All his emotions were flooding in his brain and he still couldn't formulate words. He didn't know whether to feel happy, or confused, or worried. He wanted to ask a million and one questions but everything felt so scattered. All he could do was hold Hinata in his arms. He didn't want to let go, he wanted to feel Hinata's heartbeat against his chest for the rest of his life.

 'Ah, Tobio, don't cry. That's awkward.' Hinata was laughing again. He slithered out of Kageyama's vice grip. He looked very pleased with himself. 'But it's good to know you missed me.'

 Daichi jumped when Kageyama took hold of the top of Hinata's head and began to squeeze. Hinata, now looking panic-stricken, tried to prise Kageyama's hand away, tugging at his arm. 'You're just as scary as ever!'

  'Where have you been?' Kageyama hissed, finding his voice. He kept squeezing. 'You just up and vanish for a year with no form of communication and just walk back in here like it was only yesterday? You dumbass! Explain yourself!'

 'I will! I will! Just let go!' Hinata cried and Kageyama reluctantly let his arm fall. 'You're as mean to me as ever, Tobio.'

 'Tell me.'

 'Ah, now, Kageyama, don't be so harsh on him.' Daichi came forwards. He held out his hand for Hinata to shake. Hinata grabbed it with both of his and shook with a lot of enthusiasm. 'Although I would like to hear what's been happening with you as well, Hinata. I'd never have expected to see you in this town again? What's been going on?'

 Hinata was peering hopefully into the coffee shop, which was empty. 'Is Suga around? I've been dying for a cup of his coffee for _ages_.'

 They ended up sitting in the dining hall, in the very corner of the room away from the sunlight pouring in through the windows. Daichi had explained about Suga's situation and Hinata had looked very worried and started stammering about how it must be his fault, but Daichi told him to calm down and not get so worked up, and asked Kageyama if he would be able to make Hinata a drink.

 Kageyama wasn't very skilled at making hot drinks. His mother had always done it for him, but he did his best and Hinata seemed pleased enough.

 'So, what happened this past year?' Daichi asked. Hinata slurped his coffee. 'Why did you return to Sunshine Harbour?'

 'To look for Natsu.'

 'Natsu?'

 'Yeah,' Hinata nodded, rubbing his eyes. He yawned and stretched. Kageyama had the urge to kiss him, but he restrained himself. 'She went missing and I got a postcard leading me here.'

 He fished it out of his pocket. Kageyama gasped and snatched it from him. It was identical to the one he'd received. This meant Hinata had never sent him the postcard after all. What did the black feather mean to Natsu, though?

 'I didn't want to come back here, I have bad memories of this town, but I had to come for my sister.'

 'How have you been here a year without any luck?'

 'Oh well, that's the thing, I don't really remember anything. Everything's a blur to me. It's all really vague.' He scratched at his head.

 Just like Natsu.

 Had the pair of them been held together for this past year?

 Why release them now?

 What was going on?

 'But I saw you. Outside the school, you ran from me.'

 'Oh yeah.' Hinata nodded. 'I came to about a week or so ago, and I realised I still hadn't found Natsu. I knew she was in this town so I kept my search up. I had no idea you were here Kageyama, until I spotted you trying to sneak into Sunshine High during the night.'

 Daichi gave Kageyama a look. He felt his cheeks burn.

 'I was a little shocked to see you,' Hinata said, even though Kageyama distinctly remembered Hinata hadn't had much of an expression on his face at the time. 'And then you came at me and I panicked and ran. I thought you might be a trick or something. Sorry. I realised it was you when I saw that wolf attack you.'

 'You were there? Why didn't you help me?'

 'Oh well, that fox did, so...' He trailed off, draining his cup. 'I would have come to find you earlier, but... well, we'll talk about that in private, if that's alright with you, Daichi?'

 'Yes. Would you like to go?'

 'No, not yet. I'll talk to Kageyama outside.'

 Kageyama frowned. Why wasn't Hinata calling him by his first name? That was unusual behaviour for him. He hadn't even looked at Kageyama properly since they'd sat down.

 'I've been running around town for about a week! It's like, 'gwah!', you know?' Kageyama wanted to smile, but something was bothering him, so he didn't. Hinata seemed like his old, goofy self, but at the same time, he seemed all wrong.

 'Gwah?' Repeated Daichi, while Hinata nodded vigorously.

 'Yeah! Tiring! Gwah!' He smiled. 'Anyway, I spotted her coming into the coffee shop earlier, but I ran into a spot of trouble.'

 'Oikawa?' Daichi looked serious. Hinata nodded. 'Did you see Suga? Where is Oikawa? I'm going to go after him.'

 'Dunno. I ran away from him.' Hinata shrugged. 'Suga wasn't with him either. I really hope he's ok.'

 'He better be.' Daichi said darkly.

 'I saw you coming back in Kageyama so I thought Natsu might be here. She's not upstairs somewhere is she? I really need to speak with her.'

 Kageyama's heart sank. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had yet to return. He hoped they had found Natsu and saved her from Iwaizumi. He didn't want to tell Hinata what had happened to his sister.

 'No, she's not here.'

 'Oh.' Hinata looked disappointed. He pushed his chair back and rose to his feet. 'Well, I'm going to keep looking for her.'

 'Wait, why would someone kidnap Natsu? Or you? And if they had both of you, why would they let you go?'

 'The second part I can't really answer, I don't know what their motives are. As for why they'd take me and Natsu, well... it's a complicated story...'

 'Tell me.'

 Hinata sighed. 'Oikawa wants to marry Natsu.'

 Kageyama blanched. 'What?!'

 Even Daichi looked confused. 'I'm sorry? What do you mean, wants to marry her?'

 Hinata was quiet for a while. He was looking at Kageyama now. 'There's inheritance money left to both of us, that we could only get when we turned eighteen. Oikawa wants it, so he took Natsu and planned to marry her.'

 'She's not eighteen yet.'

 'She will be soon enough.' Hinata explained. 'Once married, the money would be legally his if anything happened to her.'

 'So, why on Earth would Oikawa call you here?' Kageyama had not expected this to be the reason Natsu had been taken, or why Hinata had disappeared for a full year. It seemed too... simple.

 'Well, the money in my name has already come to me, and if I die, anything in my name gets transferred to my sister. So he called me here to look for her. Why isn't she here? Where has she gone? I need to find her. We have to get out of this town and away from Oikawa, the creep.'

 'Oh crap.' Kageyama was up. He grabbed Hinata's wrist. 'She was in that warehouse, some guy attacked her. Why are we sat here talking? We have to help her. I'm so sorry, Shoyo. She told me to run for help, which is why I came back here. I swear I didn't leave her by my own choice! Please don't hate me.'

 'Woah, slow down. It's cool, I'm not mad at you.' He seemed oddly calm despite Kageyama just telling him that his sister was in potential danger. 'Let's go then. See you in a bit, Daichi.'

 'Kageyama, maybe you should stay here.' He tried to say, but Hinata was already dragging Kageyama towards the exit, shouting 'byyeee' over his shoulder.

 Once outside, Hinata's whole demeanour changed. He let go of Kageyama and began walking away. Kageyama, feeling very lost at the moment, ran after him, trying to urge him to take the situation a little more seriously. His sister could be hurt, for all they knew. 

 Hinata waved him down. 'Don't worry about it. She's fine.'

 'Huh?'

 'I've already sorted it.'

 'Then why didn't you say? Where is she? What's going on? Why did you leave without telling me? I could have helped you find Natsu, you know I could. I thought you'd left me because you didn't love me anymore. How could you do this to me?'

 'Ah, you're always full of questions.' Hinata looked annoyed. 'Let's keep walking. This way. I want to talk to you about something.'

  'Okay.'

 He tried to hold Hinata's hand but he'd shoved them into his trouser pockets again. Kageyama's heart was hurting him.

 'I lied about not knowing where Natsu was because I wanted to come back here and get you, it was easier to get you to come with me, to show me the way, or whatever. I feel like if I came back with my sister, you'd have started jumping around all excited and started packing your bags for us to go on home together.'

 '... Why is that a bad thing?'

 Hinata let out an exasperated sigh and kicked at some loose stones on the floor. 'Things have changed over this year. I feel different now.'

 Kageyama took a few steps back, unsure what he was hearing. 'What are you on with?'

 'Hey, do you still wear that feather pendant I gave you?' Hinata asked all of a sudden. Kageyama nodded and held it up. Hinata held out his hand. 'Can I have it back?'

 It was like someone had just plunged a knife into his heart. He clutched at the feather, not wanting to part with it. 'What? Why do you want it back?'

 'It feels weird now.'

 'Weird? Why is it weird?'

 'Kageyama, please don't get upset about this. I only came back to talk to you because you need to hear this, because there's no point you staying in this town any longer and if you try and get in the way of Oikawa's plan, he's going to have you killed, and I don't really want that to happen. I'm still your friend.'

 'You're my _boy_ friend.' Kageyama corrected him, his knees shaking. He didn't want to hear what Hinata was going to say next.

 He didn't even look upset. His hand was still in front of him, palm flat, facing upwards. 'I'm sorry, Kageyama, but I don't love you anymore. There's no reason for you to stay here. I'm not going to come home with you, so get on the next bus and leave. I'd like my necklace back, too.'

 His heart was breaking, shattering into a thousand pieces inside his body. He felt like he couldn't even breathe and he wanted to cry. He tried to utter words, to ask how Hinata could say such things, and why he felt this way, but he ended up just spluttering nonsense.

 'Please don't get upset Kageyama. We can still be friends, I guess. Well, you can't really write to anyone here. Or call. So, maybe not. But we'll always have the memories, right?'

 'How- how-' He managed to get out. Hinata looked a little pained.

 'I just realised that the only reason I was with you in Angel's Haven was because I was lonely and wanted attention, and so did you. Now that I've been away, and had time to think, even if a lot of the time was blank to me- because I was thinking about you whenever I came around- I realised that it never really felt real to me, do you understand? Not that I used you, that'd be harsh, I did fancy you, so... Look, just get your things together and I'll walk you back to the bus stop, okay? I'll phone a taxi to pick you up from there and it can take you back to Sunshine Bay.'

 He tried to reach out to touch Kageyama, but Kageyama smacked his hand away. Suddenly, he was angry.

 A whole year he'd longed for Hinata by his side again, he'd been miserable and alone and depressed, and even though Hinata had been in a much worse situation than he, being taken by Oikawa, he'd spent any waking moment thinking how much he'd hated dating Kageyama. He suddenly very felt empty inside.

 He felt numb.

 Kageyama had come all this way to find the love of his life and now he was being told it was all a waste of time, that the love wasn't real after all, like he'd been telling himself all along, and then shouting himself down because that just couldn't be true.

 'I love you.' Kageyama managed to spit out. Hinata sighed, as though this was all one huge ordeal for him.

 'I just don't feel the same way, Kageyama. I'm sorry. Let's just sort you a taxi and you can go home.' He still had his hand out. 'The feather, please.'

 Anger surged through him and he tore the feather pendant from around his neck, throwing it Hinata's face. He could feel the tears pricking at his eyes and his bottom lip wobbling, but he didn't want to cry. 'Take it, you stupid moron! I don't want anything to do with you! Leave me alone!'

 Before Hinata could say anything else, he turned on his heel and ran off, not looking back. The tears rolled down his cheeks now.

  He didn't know where he was heading. He just needed to get somewhere, anywhere, away from Hinata so he could calm down and think about what to do next.

 Meanwhile, Hinata was watching him run in the opposite direction, his face expressionless. He looked down at the pendant lying on the ground and bent to pick it up, but a flash of gold caught his eye and the golden fox appeared, it's back bent, as though ready to strike. It growled low in its throat.

 'Hello there.' Hinata smirked. The fox leapt at him, and Hinata went to dodge, but it turned out the fox had been using this as a distraction tactic. It snatched up the feather pendant in its jaws and leapt away, running off and disappearing behind a building. Hinata rolled his eyes. 'Whatever.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY


	11. Silver and Gold

 Night had crept in around him, catching him completely unaware. He'd lost track of time in his grief, forgetting it was nearing the evening when Hinata had spoken to him and tore his heart from his chest.

 Kageyama had ran off and hid himself away somewhere; he hadn't paid much attention to his surroundings, he'd just looked for the first narrow, dimly-lit alleyway he could find and collapsed in the very corner of it, blocked from view by the many garbage bins, and he had cried into his knees, his whole body shaking, his mind unable to think clearly.

 How could Hinata have done this to him?

 After everything they had been through together.

 It was all a lie?

 The bandages on his hands were starting to bug him, they were dirty and getting itchy. He peeled them off, expecting to see the skin underneath torn and bruised from his fall a few days ago, but they were fine. Not a single mark.

 He decided he didn't care. It was better this way. He dropped the bandages at his feet and stared down at the ground between his knees, wondering what he was supposed to do with his life now? He'd have to go home, back to his mother, and tell her everything. How it had all been for nothing.

 Maybe he'd go to the police and tell them where Hinata was, since they had a warrant for his arrest in Angel's Haven. That'd show him.

 No, he wasn't going to be spiteful, no matter how angry and hurt he felt.

 Besides, Sunshine Harbour didn't exist... somehow? He still hadn't figured that one out yet. Perhaps someone had paid to have the town wiped off the map and bribed the cops to keep quiet about it, which meant no one was going to come for that body.

 Kageyama still wasn't sure on who he thought had killed the man. His bets were on Oikawa, now that more information had to come light about his intentions. If he had lured Natsu and Shoyo here for the purposes of marrying into the family and killing them for money, why then would he lure Kageyama here too?

 It had to have something to do with his father.

 Oikawa knew what had happened between him and his mother and those people. He wasn't old to enough to have been one of the people, but his father or mother could have been part of it and passed down information to him, told them about the pregnant woman on the run and the Hinata's wealth and how to obtain it.

 That had to be what everyone was keeping from him- the secrets about his father's past. They all knew, it must have been a huge town scandal or something, and they didn't want him to know. Could they have known his mother was named Kageyama? Did he look identical to his father when he was the same age?

 There was no way he was going to let Oikawa get to him. He'd leave as soon as he possibly could, whenever he plucked up the courage to go back to the inn and collect his belongings. He'd go now, seeing as the night sky was looming overhead, but he was too scared.

 He was scared that Hinata would be there, laughing about him, calling him a loser and pathetic, saying things like 'I can't believe he ever thought I loved him', or that Natsu wouldn't be there and they'd blame him again for someone else going missing. Hinata said he'd handled it, but Kageyama wasn't convinced.

 Unless... Hinata was in on Oikawa's plan?

 It didn't make much sense as to why both the Hinata children turned up on the same day, with the same story. What if Hinata had planned something with Oikawa and he was the one who wanted Kageyama dead?

 No.

 Stop thinking like that. He slapped his head. What reason would Hinata want you dead?

 Trying to keep these thoughts from his mind, Kageyama got to his feet and began to run. He didn't know where he was going to  run to, he just needed to keep himself preoccupied until he felt it was safe to return to the inn. If he went back later, around midnight, hopefully everyone would be asleep and he could speak with Daichi and say he wanted to leave. He was sure Daichi would help him out, seeing as he was constantly trying to push Kageyama out of the town.

 There were more tears on his cheeks and he did not bother to wipe them away.

 He paused to catch his breath when he reached a low wall, somewhere close to the beach. He could hear the lapping of the waves and the splashing of swimmers. Those girls were probably training again, although it was rather late for it.

 A flash of gold caught his eye and he looked up to see the golden fox was sat watching him from a distance. He swore at it, telling it to leave him alone, but it got up and walked up to him, perching near his feet. He frowned at it. 'What are you?'

 The fox jumped onto the wall and sat itself next to him, not looking at him, just staring around. He had no idea what the fox was thinking - if foxes could think- as they didn't really have any form of facial expressions to show off. It licked its paw and cleaned behinds its ear. He slowly raised a hand and tried to pet it, but it moved away from him, making a protesting noise.

 'Get lost then!' Kageyama snapped at it and the fox snapped its jaws back at him. He huffed. 'You're a weird creature.'

  'Yo!' A voice made him jump. He looked around to see Tanaka walking towards him, his hands deep in his trouser pockets. He was wearing a dark hoody with the hood pulled up, which made him look quite shady. Tanaka noticed the fox, which, for once, remained where it was. 'Ah, is this the fox you've been yammering on about? What a cutie.'

 He tried to touch the fox but it bit his hand. Tanaka snatched it away, looking pissed. He stuck his middle finger up at the fox. 'You want to fuckin' fight, huh? You little golden piece of shit-'

 'Tanaka, it's a wild animal.' Kageyama tried to say but Tanaka had leapt at the fox, which darted easily to one side, allowing Tanaka to crash into the wall and tumbled over it, crashing on his back on the other side. Kageyama sighed and went to help him up. 'You're an idiot.'

 'Disrespectful little bastard!' Tanaka yelled after the fox as it began to walk away, it's tail held high. 'Ah, man, my hand hurts now. What are you doin' out here anyway, Kags? It's getting late, you should head back in.'

 Kageyama, reluctantly, explained what had happened. Tanaka smacked his cheek in shock. 'Both Hinata's turning up on the same day. That's weird!'

 'That's what I thought! I don't understand what's going on with them, but now that Hinata's made his intention clear,' he said, realising he'd said Hinata instead of Shoyo. He felt like that closeness had gone now. He needed to be more formal about him. 'I don't really care to find out. I'm going to ask Daichi to help me get a taxi to Sunshine Bay. I don't want to stay here any longer, especially if Oikawa has something planned for me. I think it might have something to do with my Dad, he used to live here, a long time ago. I'm not sure what though, no one will tell me.'

 'You're correct, ya' know.'

 'What?'

 'Hey, don't look at me like that, I told ya', I can't say anything, but you're right in assuming it has something to do with your Dad.' He slapped a hand on Kageyama's shoulder and blinked, confused. He lifted his hand and placed it back down again. He looked Kageyama up and down.

 'What are you doing?'

 'Nothing. Ignore me, I thought my hand was hurting. Anyway, what was I saying- yeah, you don't have anything to do with your Dad, and you shouldn't get dragged into his business, so just forget about it and go home. It's better you don't know, you won't like it.'

 For once, Kageyama wasn't bothered that he was being left out. He didn't care about anything anymore. His heart was a black-hole.

 Tanaka was scanning the ground. He moved suddenly, making Kageyama back up. He bent down and picked up a black string, holding it up. It was the feather pendant. 'I think that fox dropped this at your feet.'

 'What?' Kageyama was confused. He'd thrown that at Hinata, why did the fox have it? 'It can't have done. Maybe Hinata dropped it here, he said he didn't want me to have it anymore.'

 'Come, walk with me.' Tanaka said, pocketing the feather. They walked towards the beach together, heading down the pier. Tanaka dropped at the end of it, letting his feet dangle, and patted the wood, instructing Kageyama to join him. 'I want to talk to you.'

 'Aren't you supposed to be looking for Suga?'

 Tanaka groaned and rubbed at his eyes. 'I've been looking all day. He's definitely gone somewhere, and if Oikawa has taken him, it's going to be difficult to track him down, but don't worry, Daichi will be out searching for him now, I suspect. If anyone can find him, Daichi can. Now sit!'

 'Ok.' Kageyama seated himself, his eyes tracing the water. He couldn't see the two girls. Maybe he had imagined hearing them splashing about? 'You're not here to spy on those girls, are you?'

 'I don't spy on them! If I were spying, I'd hide. Anyway, that's not it.' He pulled the feather pendant out and fastening it around Kageyama's neck again. Before Kageyama could protest and try to rip it off, Tanaka moved his hands away. 'That's better. You shouldn't throw it away.'

 'I don't want it.'

 'Just keep it. I know you think it's a bad thing now, but you shouldn't look at it like that at all. You should look at it and remember what it meant to you before you came to this town, how happy you'd been to receive it and how much you'd cherished it. I still have stuff from my exes, and even though I don't really think about them anymore, when I look at the stuff they gave me, I'm happy, ya' know? 'Cos I like to remember that part of my life being good, even if I did screw it up.' He laughed half-heartedly and rubbed at the back of his neck. He'd put his hood down. 'There are years of memories that come with that necklace, so you shouldn't just throw it away.'

 Kageyama huffed. 'I know you're trying to help me feel better, but I really don't need it. I might just throw it in the ocean.'

 'Don't do that.'

 'It's my feather! I'll do what I want with it!' Kageyama tried to take it off but Tanaka began to wrestle with him. Kageyama shoved him away. 'Get off me! I told you, I don't want it!'

 'Stop being a brat! Just do as I say!'

 'I'm going to throw you in the ocean in a minute!' Kageyama said, although he hadn't meant it. The pair of them were on their feet, wrestling each other far too close the edge of the pier. Kageyama jumped back, not wanting to fall in. Tanaka folded his arms, standing his ground.

 'I'm going to superglue the damned thing to your neck!' He threatened and Kageyama reached to take the necklace off- he was going to drop it in the ocean whether Tanaka liked it or not- when a huge gust of wind hit the pair of them.

 His clothing whipped around him and his hair went everywhere and he could see the feather floating in front of his eyes, the string keeping it secured around his neck. He could see Tanaka wobbling dangerously and Kageyama reached out for him, trying to grab his flailing hands, but the wind took Tanaka over the edge and into the depths below. Kageyama couldn't get to him, he was holding his ground, trying to even out his weight so that the wind wouldn't blow him over too.

 It wasn't until the harsh winds had died down did Kageyama feel safe enough to move from his spot.

 Crying, Kageyama rushed to the edge and knelt down to peer over, wondering if he'd be able to pull Tanaka back up.

Bubbles floated on the surface of the water for a moment and then Tanaka's head broke through and he was spluttering and coughing, using his arms to keep himself a float. He looked up to Kageyama and swore. 'Kags! Get me a rope or something!'

 'Can you grab my hand?'

 'No! It's too far!' He began to swim towards the edge, clinging to one of the poles that held the pier up. 'I'm not a good swimmer! I won't be able to swim back to shore! Get me something, quick!'

 Kageyama looked around despreately, wondering what he could use to hoist Tanaka back up when he heard a splashing noise. Something had disturbed the water.

 'Kags! Get me out! Get me out!' Tanaka was shouting from below him. Kageyama was panicking now. What kind of creatures lived in that water? Surely there couldn't be something bad if the girls swam in it all the time, but maybe stuff came out at night? Sharks?

 'I'm going to jump in! I can swim you back to shore!' Kageyama wasn't confident in his swimming skills but he was sure he could manage, but Tanaka was shouting at him to stay on the pier.

 'Don't come in the water! Just find something-' He was cut off.

 Kageyama gasped and leaned over the edge, trying to spot Tanaka, but he'd been pulled under the water. Seconds later, he re-emerged, coughing up water. He was splashing around like an injured seal, trying to keep himself above the water's surface, but something dragged him under again.

 'TANAKA!' Kageyama screamed, getting up and pulling at the laces on his shoes. He didn't care what was in there, he had to dive in and help him. He was just about to jump when someone grabbed his arm and pulled him back with brute force.

 'Don't.'

 Asahi Azumane was stood behind him, a terrifyingly tall silhouette in the darkness. Kageyama tried to push him away, but it was like trying to shift a ton of bricks. Asahi began to pull him away from the water, back towards the beach.

 'No! Get off me, you idiot! Something's got Tanaka! We have to help him! He'll drown!'

 'He'll be fine.' Was all Asahi said, still pulling him along, even though he looked like he was in pain. He obviously didn't think Tanaka was going to be fine, so why wasn't he letting Kageyama help, or why wasn't he doing anything about it?

 'We need to go, now. Daichi wants to speak with you.'

 'Don't you care about Tanaka! He's going to drown! You big moron! Let go of me, let go! I'm not letting someone else go missing or die!' He was hitting Asahi, throwing as many punches with his free hand as possible, but they weren't doing any damage. Eventually, he gave up and tried to dig his heels in, but Asahi was strong enough to just drag him along. He didn't think going limp would help, he imagined Asahi would be able to easily throw him over his shoulder and carry him back to the inn.

 Turning back to look at the ocean, screaming for Tanaka, Kageyama caught the glimpse of a silvery fin moving gracefully over the surface, before disappearing. The thrashing noises stopped and everything was silent.

 Tanaka had stopped fighting back. The waves returned to normal and the spot where Tanaka had fallen was now still and black. He could no longer see anything in the darkness.

 He had gone.

 


	12. Black Feathers

Kageyama had put up a fight.

 Asahi kept letting go of him, and he'd try to make a break for it, wanting to head back to the water to help Tanaka, but he couldn't outrun him. Asahi ended up grabbing the front of his shirt and dragging him along, which almost choked Kageyama, and it was only when they'd reached the front of the inn did Asahi let go and suddenly his serious expression was lifted and he was apologising profusely to Kageyama for potentially hurting him, and said he would go back for Tanaka now, he just had to get Kageyama back to Daichi as soon as possible.

 'Tanaka could be dead!' Kageyama snapped at him, and Asahi looked bashful and took off at a sprint back to the ocean.

 Groaning and rubbing his neck, Kageyama pushed open the inn door and stepped inside. Daichi was seated on the reception desk, his hands clasped in front of his face, like he was contemplating. Kageyama's belongings lay at his feet.

 'What's going on? You need to help Tanaka, he fell in the ocean and something dragged him under-'

 'Tanaka will be fine.' Daichi repeated what Asahi had said and Kageyama had never felt more confused. What if some great shark had swallowed Tanaka whole? 'Get your bags on. I'm taking you through the mountains and back to the bus stop. I've arranged transport for you. You need to leave this town, it's not safe here.'

 He couldn't help feeling a bit angry that Daichi was basically throwing him out, but he had been planning on leaving anyway, so he didn't care too much. He stomped over and picked up his bag, slinging it on his shoulder. 'Satisfied? You've finally gotten rid of me.'

 'Good riddance.' Came a voice from the coffee shop doorway. Tsukishima was stood there, holding a steaming mug of coffee. He sipped it, considering Kageyama, a small smirk on his lips. 'Bye bye.'

 Kageyama was trying to peer round Tsukishima to see if Hinata was in the coffee shop. He wasn't. Tsukishima noticed and sighed. 'He's not here, you can stop worrying. He's not going to come back either.'

 'Why not? I thought he was friends with you guys.'

 Tsukishima snorted. 'I don't associate myself with the sort.'

 'Is Natsu here? Hinata said she was safe.'

 Daichi and Tsukishima exchanged glances, which made Kageyama nervous. Daichi licked his lips and said, 'We can't find Natsu. She's vanished.'

 'And you aren't out looking for her?' Kageyama shouted, more at Tsukishima than anyone. He was supposed to know this town like that back of his hand. He raised an eyebrow back at Kageyama.

 'I have been looking, but like Suga, she's disappeared entirely.' He took another sip, speaking as casually as he would if they were discussing the weather. 'I can't do anything until Oikawa decides to return them. Perhaps if you hadn't been selfish and left him alone, we wouldn't be in this mess, but I guess you only ever think about yourself.'

 'Tsukishima, don't wind him up. We don't have time for that. Anyway, Kageyama, you said Hinata told you that Natsu was safe.' Daichi confirmed, and Kageyama nodded. He looked at Tsukishima, puzzled. 'I told you something was off about him.'

 'You're telling me.' Tsukishima replied, but didn't explain what he meant. Kageyama was certain Tsukishima had not seen Hinata since he'd returned.

 'He lied about his sister. You don't think he's involved with Oikawa, do you?'

 'Why would Hinata want to give Oikawa his money? Or let him marry his sister?' Kageyama asked but didn't get a reply. Instead, Daichi cleared his throat and bent down to tie the lace on his shoe.

 'Come on then, Kageyama. We need to get going. I've put some water in your bag, the uphill climb is never fun.' He walked over to the inn door and held it open, waiting for Kageyama to exit.

 'Hold on, you've got to tell me why you think Oikawa has a problem with me? Because I don't understand it. Tanaka said it has something to do with my father, but Oikawa would have been too young to have known him before I was born. Did Oikawa's parents have something against him? Where they 'the people?'  

 'Look, Oikawa just doesn't like... your kind, around here, okay?' Daichi sounded exasperated. Kageyama frowned.

 'My kind? Do you mean... gay? But aren't you and Suga dating?' He gasped. 'Is that why Oikawa took Suga? Is he some kind of religious nut? ... You don't think Hinata broke up with me to try and protect me, do you? To make me want to leave town? Maybe that's why he lied about Natsu and he's actually rushed off to help her, but needed to give me a reason to leave without him so that Oikawa wouldn't try to hurt me?'

 'Bingo. Now leave.' Tsukishima drained his cup. Kageyama dropped his bags.

 'I'm going to find Shoyo. I don't give a shit what Oikawa thinks of me. I'm going to help but rescue Natsu and I'll find Suga too, and then I'll take both Hinata's and leave this town for good.'

 Daichi tried to stop him as he headed out the door, but couldn't hold on to him for very long as Kageyama fought back and wrenched himself free. Daichi called after him but Kageyama had already sped off down the road.

 He headed towards the beach first, because he was still concerned about Tanaka's well-being and was hoping he would find Asahi pulling him out of the sea, but there was no one on the pier and the ocean was still. He walked to the edge of the pier and peered into the swirling water, but he couldn't see anything but blackness.

 Praying that Asahi had long since rescued him and taken him home, Kageyama decided he didn't have much choice but to go and find Hinata and Natsu instead.

 The golden fox was sat on a roof top of a nearby building, watching him. He rolled his eyes at it and tried to shoo it, but it didn't budge. As he walked along, it followed him, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, until eventually it leapt onto a low wall and walked side-by-side with him until Kageyama got frustrated and tried to swing at it.

 'Will you piss off? What's your agenda?' Kageyama hissed at it. The fox had easily avoided the attack and was seated in front of him, licking its paws. He felt ridiculous talking to the fox but he had a weird feeling that the fox could understand him. 'Move or I'll kick you.'

 With a flick of its tail, the fox got to its feet and began to walk ahead. Kageyama decided to follow it, wondering if it was leading him somewhere, but when it made a u-turn and headed back in the direction of the inn he swore at it and kept walking on ahead. He was going to go to the warehouse and see if he could figure out what had happened to Natsu.

 A gold glint out the corner of his eye told him that the fox was following him still.

 He ignored it.

 Walking through town at night was putting him on edge. He kept expecting to see the wolf appear, or the man who attacked him (even though he was dead and currently still rotting in that boat house), or even Oikawa to turn up with that slick smile of his and charm him into some kind of trap.

  _Oikawa hates my kind._

Homophobic prick.

 What was he doing to Suga? Had Kageyama been wrong to judge Suga?

 Surely Oikawa wouldn't kill him... would he?

 What would he gain from killing Suga?

 It was a question Kageyama couldn't answer.

 'I need you to turn back around, Kageyama.' Daichi had appeared as if from nowhere and was stood in front of him, wearing a heavy black coat. 'You're going to get yourself killed. If Hinata did break up with you to protect you, how would he feel if you went storming back in and wound up dead? You're not strong enough. You need to leave, before something terrible happens.'

 'Have you been following me?' Kageyama asked. Daichi shook his head.

 'No, forget it. Just please, come with me. I can send you home. Your mother must be worried sick.'

 'Just leave me alone, Daichi! I'm old enough to make my own decisions.' He was going to punch Daichi in a minute. He didn't have time for this. Anything could be happening to the Hinata's right now. It was his fault if Natsu was hurt, he left her behind.

 Daichi had opened his mouth to say something but then Tsukishima appeared, pointing behind him. 'I think I might have found Suga. Are you coming?'

 'Yes!' Daichi jumped into action and hurried over to Tsukishima. He called back to Kageyama. 'Head back to the inn and wait for me there.'

 'I'm not going to.'

 'It's his funeral, Daichi. Come on.' Tsukishima said and the pair of them disappeared down another street.

 'You had better be there, Kageyama.' He heard Daichi shout. Kageyama waited until he could hear their footsteps fading away before pressing on. He wasn't going to listen to Daichi, of course. He had to find Natsu and Hinata. 

 Could it really be true that Hinata had only said all those things because he was trying to protect Kageyama? It made more sense than him completely blowing him off after everything they'd had together. He had to put on an act and pretend he didn't care because he knew Kageyama would get mad about it and storm off and head back home.

 Every scenario possible was flitting through his mind.

 Part of him was wondering why he was heading back to the warehouse. It was the most obvious place and it was more than likely Tsukishima and the others had already checked it out, but there was something in his brain telling him to stay far away from there, so he felt like that was the right place to be.

 The industrial part of town was creepy enough during the day time, let alone when it was pitch black. The only light source was the dim moonlight and a few remaining bulbs on the side of several of the buildings, but most of the pathways between were swallowed by shadow.

 Gulping and trying to control his breathing so he wouldn't start panicking, Kageyama slowly made his way towards the warehouse where he'd last seen Natsu.

 It had been such a long day.

 How could so much happen in one day?

 Gingerly, he pushed open the warehouse door and slipped inside, trying to stop the door from slamming shut behind him and alerting anyone to his presence. He had to be sneaky.

 Only, he faced a minor problem- the warehouse was completely black. He couldn't see a thing.

 He fumbled around in the darkness, running his hands along the walls, wondering if he could find a light switch or string of some sort. He stopped occasionally just to listen, trying to pick up any unusual sounds but it was deadly silent. If someone was in here with him, they'd have to be breathing, and it wasn't as though they could just stop when he looked since they wouldn't be able to see what he was doing.

 About five minutes later, Kageyama finally stumbled across a metal box attached to the wall. He pulled the little door open and felt inside, finding several switches. He flicked them all on and lights sprang to life overhead, casting the room in a bright neon glow.

 Immediately, his eyes were scanning the surroundings, looking for anyone else in the room, but it was empty. It was just him and a lot of black feathers.

 He blinked and moved forwards, his mouth dropping open. The stone floor was splattered with crimson blood, and so were most of the walls. There were at least a hundred feathers scattered across the floor, matted with red.

 Slowly, Kageyama bent down and picked one up, examining it. They looked just like the feather he wore around his neck and the one that had been on that postcard.

 'Shit.' He thought, dropping the feather and getting up quickly.

 This was a trap.

 Oikawa must have set this up as some kind of sick joke, to make Kageyama think Hinata or Natsu was hurt and he had thrown black feathers all of the ground so Kageyama would know it was him who sent that postcard.

 But how would Oikawa have known about him if it was to do with his sexuality that made Oikawa hate him?

 Had Hinata said something?

 'You seem shocked.'

 Kageyama whipped around to find Oikawa stood in the doorway, his hands behind his back. He was smiling pleasantly and wasn't wearing his gym clothing anymore. He'd changed into a crisp white shirt and black trousers, with smart black shoes. There was no blood on him.

 'Where is Natsu? And Shoyo? And Suga? What have you done with them, you smirking prick?' Kageyama growled, baring his teeth. Oikawa laughed and gestured to the floor and the walls.

 'Well, this is quite a lot of Natsu.'

 Kageyama's stomach dropped. He felt sick. He had hoped this blood was fake. 'Is she dead?'

 'No.' Oikawa said, walking around the room. Kageyama's eyes flickered over to the door, but it appeared Oikawa had managed to chain it shut, even though Kageyama had not heard him do so.

  _Fuck_.

 'I know all about your scheme,' Kageyama's heart was racing. He needed to get out of here. He wasn't certain he could take Oikawa by himself. 'Is that why you're after me? You think I'll go back to police and tell them it was you who kidnapped the Hinata children?'

 Oikawa grinned. 'You think the police would care?'

 'W-why wouldn't they?'

 'Well, I mean, for one, the Hinata children don't exist on any records, so, that'll be an issue, and secondly, you already know that no one outside of here believes this town exists. Oh, I'm glad you found the body, too. I left it there for you. I was hoping that you'd get all angry at Suga about it and come rushing back to me for help, but I guess that didn't go all too well.' He sighed. Kageyama scowled.

 'Is Suga alive? Where have you hidden him?'

 'Oh, suddenly you care about Mr. Refreshing? I thought you didn't trust him. You really should have, you know. That poor boy has been trying so hard to look after you and you just threw it back in his face.' Oikawa smiled, showing neat white teeth. He went and sat on a nearby wooden crate, crossing his legs. 'He's still alive, although he's struggling. He still has some use to me.'

 'What are you doing to him?!' Kageyama shouted and Oikawa tutted.

 'Keep your voice down please, Tobio.'

 'You twisted bastard, where's Shoyo? What have you done to him? You seriously think you can get his and Natsu's money by marrying her-'

 'Money?' Oikawa looked confused and then began to really laugh, clutching at his stomach. He wiped away a tear. 'Is that the story they fed you? You think I'm after money? No, I couldn't care less about money. The Hinata's don't have anything to their name anymore, anyway.'

 Kageyama froze. 'W-what then? Why did you take them?'

 'Oh, that must have been what Shoyo came up with. I did tell him to just make something up, I didn't know it'd be that, and I'm a little more interested in breeding with Natsu than marrying her, hence why she's not dead.'

 'Excuse me?'

 The grin that spread across Oikawa's face was the widest one yet. His eyes flashed devilishly. 'You really don't know anything, do you, Tobio?'

  'You want to _breed_ with her? What kind of sick pervert are you?' Kageyama had balled his fists up. 'What do you mean, that's what you told Shoyo? What did you do to him?'

 If he could keep Oikawa talking, maybe he could figure a way out of here.

 'It's much more amusing to keep you in the dark about everything, I've loved watching you run around town like a frightened little rat.' Oikawa smirked. 'You're just like a rat-  disgusting.'

 Furious, Kageyama swore at him. 'So, it is about my sexuality?'

 'Oh boy, you are so clueless, aren't you?'

 'I don't understand.'

 'Of course you don't.'

 'Then explain to me.'

 'What, so you can escape while I sit here and monologue? Is that your plan?'

  Kageyama said nothing. Oikawa sighed and got to his feet. He still had his hands hidden behind his back and Kageyama was starting to get suspicious of it. What kind of weapon was he concealing?

 'Did you like my postcard? I thought it was cute. You were so excited. You came running here as soon as possible. So pathetic.'

 It was hard to know whether he felt happy or sad about this news. On one hand, it meant that what he thought about Hinata trying to protect him could be true, but on the other, it meant that Hinata may have never wanted to see Kageyama again, just to keep him away.

 'How did you know about the feather?' His eyes scanned the feathers on the ground. 'Did you kill several crows to do this? What was the point, you sick fuck?'

 'I injured a crow.'

 'You're disgusting.'

 This seemed to strike a nerve with Oikawa. Something in his face twitched and he wasn't smiling anymore. He brought he hands into view to reveal he was holding a similar silver dagger to the one Iwaizumi had attacked him and Natsu with earlier. Perhaps it was the same one. There was no blood on it.

 'You might want to be careful how you speak to me, vermin.'

 'Is this to do with my father?'

 The smile was back. Oikawa's eyes flashed. 'You do know something, after all. What do you know of your father, Tobio?'

 'Nothing, except he came from this town and he and my mother split when she fell pregnant with me because he had trouble with people here. Where they your parents, by any chance? Did they pass down their bitterness and hatred to you?'

 'I guess you could say that, in a way.' Oikawa shrugged and began pacing around the room again. He was enjoying this, watching Kageyama struggle to figure everything out. 'He didn't belong in this town.'

 'And why is that?'

 Oikawa sighed. 'I really don't want to give you a bedtime story, Tobio. It'll be much easier if I just killed you.'

 Kageyama staggered backwards, his heart racing. Oikawa found this funny.

 'I'll tell you about the Hinata's at least, since you asked. I did kidnap little Natsu, over a year ago. She'd been doing well to hide from me, but I found her and I brought her back here. I already explained to you that I plan to breed with her. Of course, Hinata found out and rushed here to help her and I put him into... let's call it a trance.'

 What was he, some kind of hypnotist?

 Did that mean everything Hinata had said to him was what Oikawa had made him say? But then why would Oikawa want to push him out of town?

 'I gave him another postcard to show you. It was a lot of fun ripping out Natsu's feathers.'

 Kageyama stared at him. 'What?'

 That wide smile was back. Oikawa was enjoying this far too much. He kept stroking the knife lovingly, and Kageyama couldn't help but wonder which part of him he was planning on sticking the pointy end into. He didn't really want to know. He had to keep away from Oikawa. If he was quick enough, he might be able to dodge him and somehow take the knife from him.

 'I am glad Shoyo came back here. He's very powerful, you know? Well, of course you don't, he hid it from you.'

 'Hid what?'

 'It's handy for me, because he's the only one who can kill you while you wear that pendant.' He pointed to the feather hanging around Kageyama's neck. His hand instinctively went to grab it and he could feel his heart thumping in his chest. He was terrified and completely confused. 'You're still not getting it, are you?'

 'You're fucking mental. You're messed up in the fucking head!'

 'Language, now, Tobio. Your kind don't belong in this town. I said that to your father as well, a long time ago. He didn't listen to me, though.'

 Oikawa had known his father? But he was only twenty-five... how could that be?

 'Did you kill my father?'

 'Unfortunately not. He disappeared, like you and your mother. I was actually amazed when little Shoyo told me all about you, that you were your father's son. That's why I sent you the postcard. I did think it might attract your father back to this town, I thought maybe your mother still had contact with him and would tell him where you were going, but I guess not. I'll have to keep looking for him, but it will be amusing to take him your body.'

 'Why are you doing this?' Kageyama yelled. Oikawa looked at him like he was something nasty on the bottom of his shoe. The knife flashed in the light.

 'Humans disgust me. I want you all dead. I might as well start with you.'

 A shadowy figure appeared in the top corner of the room. Kageyama had not thought to look up at the ceiling, where many rails and pipes ran along. There were plenty of boxes in here, so it would be easy to climb up and hide there.

 The figure dropped the floor and came into the light and he felt his knees grow weak and he almost toppled over, having to grab onto a nearby crate to steady himself.

 Shoyo Hinata had walked forwards, only he looked nothing like the Shoyo Hinata Kageyama had known for the past five or so years.

 His eyes burned the brightest orange, like flickering fire, and he had single black slit for a pupil. His gaze was fixed on Kageyama and his expression was completely blank- it was physically terrifying. His hands, the ones Kageyama had once held every day on their walks to and from school, were curved into long, black, clawed talons and his skin was a weird gray-ish colour. These weren't the things Kageyama focused on though. It was the giant pair of black feathered wings that protruded from his back that had caught his attention.

 'Tobio, did I forget to mention that your boyfriend is a demon?'

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~ (^ w ^ ) ~


	13. Black and White

For a short while, Kageyama didn't believe what he was seeing. He thought it was some kind of sick joke and Oikawa and Hinata were playing some cruel, twisted prank on him. Anger had flushed through his body and he had a lump in his throat, threatening tears.

 'What kind of game is this?' He snarled at Oikawa, not even wanting to look at Hinata. He was a walking nightmare.

 As he expected, Oikawa was laughing. He twisted the knife in his hands again. 'It's no game, Tobio. You look a little confused, so I'll explain. Little Shoyo here is what's know as a Tengu, have you ever heard of them? No? They're a bird-like demon known long ago to be Gods of War, until my species began to wipe them out. When they started to risk extinction, the few remaining Tengus went into hiding and became peaceful creatures, which honestly, disappointed me. I had found the whole thing quite amusing, watching them cause death and destruction. World War Two, I mean, that was just beautiful, wasn't it?'

 He walked around Hinata, making Kageyama have to look in that direction. He couldn't look at Hinata's eyes. He felt like they were going to burn a hole right through him.

 'Humanity disgusts me. All you do is destroy this world that God gave to you, commit sin and murder one another. It would be better if you were all wiped out.' He stopped and yawned, as though this whole explanation thing was one big effort for him. Kageyama was starting to shake now. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want to die, and it was certain that Oikawa was planning on killing him tonight.

 'What bullshit are you spouting?' Kageyama tried to keep his cool. This was ludicrous. 'Your species? What do you mean by that?'

 'I'll show you in a moment, Tobio, but let me finish my story.' He waved the knife. 'It's rude to interrupt, you know.'

 'I have no interest in listening to your cock-and-bull story.'

 'You don't want to know the truth about dear little Shoyo? About that feather you wear, or about the secrets of this town?' When Kageyama didn't reply, Oikawa chuckled. 'Of course you do, you've been itching to find out since you arrived here. It's probably better for you to let me talk, because you're going to prolong your death.'

 'Why do you care about telling me if you're planning on killing me?'

 'Because the look on your face just makes my day, and I need to gloat to someone. Seriously. Iwaizumi doesn't let me usually. He's quite the meanie.' He sighed and leaned on Hinata's shoulder. 'So, do you want to hear it, or what?'

 'Tell me then.'

 'Shoyo here is the last male Tengu alive. His sister, Natsu, is the only remaining female. After their parents were killed, they decided to leave this town for their own safety. Papa Hinata used to be in charge here, for a while, before I got bored of him.' The wicked glint in Oikawa's eye told Kageyama enough. He had killed Hinata's parents. 'I wasn't very pleased that the pair of them left. I needed them. If I could reproduce with Natsu, our offspring would have power unimaginable and I could use them to fight in a war, which I want little Shoyo to lead, of course.' He tapped at Hinata's forehead. 'I'm sorry to say I've scrambled with his brain a bit, so he only responds to me. He did put up a big fight when he first came here, looking for his sister- bless him. He spent nights calling for you. How sweet.'

 Kageyama's breathing stopped for a moment, his chest felt tight. Everything Hinata had said to him had been a lie fabricated by Oikawa. He did still love him. He had called for him in his darkest moments.

 He had to prevent himself from crying. 

 This wasn't the time. 

 Instead, he allowed his anger to fill him up. Oikawa had hurt Hinata.

 'I show you the evidence and you're still sceptical,' Oikawa tutted. He tugged at Hinata's wings. 'These aren't fake. They're part of him, this is where the feather came from that hangs around your neck. Do you know why Tengu's give their feathers out to other people?'

 'You know I don't.'

 'It's to protect them. It's kind of an ownership thing, like he's saying 'this is mine'; a warning to keep other creatures away, and unfortunately, simply killing Shoyo wouldn't stop the magic in the feather from working- not that I plan on killing him until he's fulfilled his purpose to me. Have you not noticed anyone in this town can barely touch you? You burn them. I tried to make you take it off, I was hoping you'd throw it into the sea like you'd told that oaf Tanaka, but he'd gotten in the way. That's why I knocked him off the pier.'

 'You bastard.'

 'Now, now.'

 'But you touched me, when we first met. You put your arm around me.'

 Oikawa grinned. 'Yes, and it hurt like hell. The longer I held on, the hotter it got. If I tried to attack you now, I'd probably set aflame... but, don't think that's an excuse for you to run away. Hinata here can still touch you, since it's his feather you wear.'

 'You're mad.'

 'You say that, but you're starting to believe me, aren't you? You already know there's enough weird stuff in this town to think that it could be true. That golden fox that's been stalking you everywhere, figured out who that is yet?' 

 'What are you saying?'

 More chuckling. 'And the wolf that attacked you? It's an unfortunate thing, to run into a werewolf on a full moon. It's lucky you survived, but that pesky fox keeps protecting you. That's why I sent that man after you the first night. I wanted to see what would happen.'

 'He didn't set on fire.'

 'Well, no, that's because he was a human I'd possessed- it's only supernatural creatures that you burn.' Oikawa sighed and took a seat again. Hinata was still stood, immobile, in the middle of the room. Kageyama's eyes kept drifting to his taloned hands. 'Those human eyes of yours see nothing. You ignore the answers in front of your face because you don't believe in the supernatural. Why do you think this town doesn't exist to other humans? They can't see it. Only supernatural creatures can enter here.'

 'But I'm human.'

 'Yes, you are. It's rare, that a human can step foot in Sunshine Harbour. It happens, we don't really know why. Perhaps you could have some kind of magical blood in your veins, maybe you have a distant relative who is a vampire or something. The man I chose to attack you could enter because I was controlling him. I doubted he could actually _see_ the town, he probably only saw forest. Who knows. Your father came here exploring the mysteries of Sunshine Bay and the surroundings woods, and stumbled across this town. He meddled where he didn't belong and I wanted him out. Humans don't belong here.' He looked cross at the memory. 'Why do you think the others wanted you to leave so badly? They knew I'd be after you. They figured out immediately something bad had happened to sweet little Shoyo when you showed them that postcard. Tengu's don't just tear their feathers out willy-nilly, you know. It weakens them to give away even one feather.'

 Kageyama's eyes scanned the feathers scattered across the floor. If that was true, just how close to dying was Natsu?

 'They only do it when they fall in love, usually.' Oikawa scoffed. 'A demon falling in love with your kind. It's...'

 He trailed off and breathed out. He got to his feet.

 'Hinata knew that when he met you, being with you was putting your life in danger because I was after kill him, and of course, I would have killed you as well, even if I hadn't had know who you were related to. Oh, but you're thinking, this doesn't make sense? Hinata's only a child, how could all this have happened - but you should know he's a couple of thousand years old, give or take. I, on the other hand, have no age. I was created at the beginning of time.'

  _A thousand years old?!_

The whole world felt like it was crumbling around him. He felt like he was dreaming and he was longing to wake up and find out it had all been some crazy dream and Hinata was asleep in his bed, cuddled into him and stealing all the blankets like he usually did. But he had to accept the fact that this was reality.

 'Then, that photo I found, that was actually Shoyo?'

 'Yes. He can manipulate his appearance at will, so when he met you, he changed himself to be your age and grew with you. In reality, he and his sister actually look about twenty. He got quite into volleyball in the 1870's and convinced Mr.Refreshing to play with him in a school tournament, as Suga had a way of changing his age too. Hinata kept attending schools across the country just so he could play volleyball. What a silly human sport.'

  That photo was taken in _1870 ,_ he had wondered why it was black and white since they had colour cameras in the 1970's... and that was the same Hinata and Suga he knew? Not their fathers? No wonder Suga had lied about his parents death. He was the owner of the coffee shop back when Kageyama's father came here.

 'Everyone in this town is... is a demon, then? Does Suga look like this? Or Daichi?'

 He remembered the markings on Noya's back - where they from his wings?

 Kageyama couldn't believe he was letting these words tumble out of his mouth. How could he believe this? It couldn't be real. The supernatural was a fantasy, a myth. Hinata couldn't be a demon. 

Oikawa shook his head. 'I did just tell you that Shoyo and Natsu are the only remaining Tengus, did I not? I would have thought you'd have figured Mr. Refreshing out by now, with him constantly healing your wounds for you... as if by magic.'

 'A magician?' Kageyama responded thickly. Oikawa looked at him like he was stupid.

 'A witch.'

 An image sprung into Kageyama's mind of Suga wearing a pointed black hat, holding a black cat whilst waving a magic wand around. A witch? This was madness. What was going on, how had things ended up like this? He'd been fine with money fraud, that was _normal_. Why couldn't things be normal?

 'And Daichi?'

 Another playful smirk. 'Didn't you notice the bite marks on Suga's neck?'

 'Bullshit. _A vampire_?'

 'Didn't you wonder why Daichi never went out in the daylight?'

 'Bollocks. They don't exist!' Kageyama snapped. His mind was spinning.

 'No, of course they don't, just like witches and Tengus and mermaids and magical golden foxes. This is all just one big costume I made for Shoyo and all your friends are going to jump out from behind the crates with party poppers and a surprise banner.' Oikawa said sarcastically. 'But whatever, I don't need you to believe me, because it means nothing. I actually like that gormless look you have on your face. It's highly amusing.'

 Kageyama tried to say something in response but ended up babbling. Oikawa cut him off. 'I took Suga away from you because he was starting to become a problem. He had that fox following you everywhere, and while you were in the inn I couldn't touch you. He'd warded it against my kind. Why do you think I tried to make you think he'd killed that man? I was hoping you'd leave the safety of the inn and come running back to me.'

 'W-w-what-'

 'You want to know what I am? Shall I show you?'

 His dark eyes suddenly changed. They shone a startling white-blue colour and his skin imitated some kind of silvery-glow as huge white wings unfolded themselves from his back, twice the size as Hinata's. Each feather had a silvery-blue tint to it. Kageyama stumbled backwards and tripped over a pile of boxes, landing with a painful thud on the ground.

 'W-what are you?'

 'I'm an Angel.' He smiled, walking forwards and casting the whole room in white light. 'I am one of God's children, sworn to serve and cast away the sin of humanity. Just think of it, Tobio. A half-angel, half-demon hybrid. Imagine the havoc it could cause.'

 Kageyama had stopped listening now. He was scrambling to his feet, still tripping over boxes in his panic to get to the door, but Oikawa merely teleported in front of him and he yelped and ran in the opposite direction, only to be stopped by Hinata, who continued to stare at him with unblinking eyes.

 'You're not going to get very far, Tobio. You might as well give in now. You have two choices, either you can remove that feather pendant and drop it at your feet, and I will kill you painlessly and quick, or you can keep trying to fight and get away, and I'm going to send Hinata after you.'

 'Fuck you.' Kageyama hissed. He didn't believe for a second that Hinata would try and hurt him. Hypnotism could only go so far. He couldn't force Hinata to kill.

 He tried to run and push past Hinata, but a hand wrapped around his wrist and bent his arm behind his back, bringing him to his knees. He cried out, pain rushing through him. He felt like his arm was going to snap any moment.

 A clawed hand wound around his neck and Kageyama couldn't stop the tears now.  The hand was starting to squeeze and no amount of strength Kageyama could muster in his free arm would wrench it away.

 Footsteps stopped right next to him. He could just see Oikawa's feet.

'Option two it is. Shoyo, if you would; kill him.'


	14. The Flightless Crow

The hands that were clasped around his neck were not what he had remembered. They were bitter cold and rough against his skin. They were no longer gentle, no longer something that Hinata associated with a way to show his love.

 Kageyama was lying on his back on the floor, his face purple from straining with effort to try and pull Hinata's hands off of his neck, as well as the lack of oxygen going to his brain. He kicked his legs frantically, trying to do anything to shift Hinata's weight from on top of him, but it all seemed useless.

 Eventually he let his arms fall and he stared up at Hinata's face, now contorted into something ugly and hate-filled, and let the tears leak from the corner of his eyes. His vision was starting to go black around the edges. He didn't feel like he had much longer left.

 'Oh no, no, don't give up now, Tobio. I was enjoying watching you struggle. Shoyo, let go.' The hands released from his neck and Kageyama found it extremely painful to breathe in. His neck felt bruised and sore. He coughed and choked, his lungs stinging as the cold air filled them. 'Carve out his heart instead. I'll let him keep it forever, Tobio. You did promise him he could have it, long ago.'

 Without even hesitating, Hinata, who was still straddling Kageyama, began to sink his talons into Kageyama's chest. He screamed, thrashing about, but Hinata weighed as much as a full sized elephant. He'd had Hinata seated on him like this before, but it was apparent he could shift his weight at will, so not to hurt him. This time, he didn't care. Kageyama actually thought his pelvis was going to shatter.

 'If you just agree to take the pendant off, Tobio, I'll let you die a nice, simple death. You won't feel a thing and it'll be just like going to sleep.'

 Kageyama wasn't listening. He was still screaming. The claws had sunk deeper and blood was staining the front of his shirt. He could feel them scraping against his ribcage, pulling apart the tissue and muscles that coated them. It was the worst agony he had ever experience in his entire life.

 He was begging for Hinata to stop now, his hands pushing at his boyfriend's face. He was pleading for him to remember who he was, and how much they had loved each other, but none of it was working. Hinata was too far gone.

 More screams escaped his lips as he felt something almost puncture a lung. He tasted blood in his mouth and he had to cough it up, where it splattered over his chin.

 The pain was starting to get to be too much. He was beginning to lose focus, his mind was trying to stop him from suffering by slowly shutting itself down, but before unconsciousness could take over, there was a loud slamming sound that startled him and he found the weight being lifted.

 Kageyama lay perfectly still, listening to the banging and crashing going on around him, unsure what was happening. His chest was stinging and the smell of blood filled his nostrils. His hips hurt and he didn't know if he'd be able to move them. Everything was blurry.

 It took all his strength to roll onto his side, and he immediately regretted it. Pain shot through him and he cried out, coughing up more blood.

 He let his head fall, breathing hard, trying to make sense of the scene that was taking place in front of him.

 Everything was a blur of black and orange.

 Someone grabbed him by his hair and pulled him to his feet. They let go very quickly and he wobbled dangerously, catching hold of a nearby pillar. He leant against it, trying to force his eyes to remain open and his brain to ignore all the parts of his body that were aching. The metallic taste of blood was stuck in the back of this throat.

 Oikawa was glaring at him, one hand holding the other, which looked blistered. His whole figure was one white and blue mess of colour. Kageyama wanted to say something to him, to call him some kind of rude name, but he ended up just spitting at him.

 Instead of attacking Kageyama, Oikawa turned to focus his attention on what was happening. Kageyama's vision was starting to become clearer now. The first thing he saw were the two sets of big black wings.

 Only, one of them had a lot of feathers missing and was crooked on the left side. Natsu was fighting with her brother, her skin the same grey texture, her eyes the same burning orange. She was slashing at him with her claws, the pair of them jumping around the room at an in-human speed.

 Hinata kept flying out of her way, but Natsu could not get off the ground, not with her wings so badly damaged. She looked bruised all over and had a large cut down her upper arm. Her nose was bloody and she was panting hard, her body glistening with sweat.

 Obviously, whatever Oikawa had done to Hinata made him unable to recognise his own little sister and he was making no attempts to lighten his attacks. She wasn't powerful enough in this state to have a good offence, but she was doing well to dodge his attacks and defend herself.

 'Natsu...' Kageyama breathed, and she dared a glance at him. Hinata dived at her, swiping with his claws and she ducked, calling out to Kageyama.

 'Kageyama! Get out of here! Go! I kicked the door open! You can make it! Oikawa can't touch you!'

 Not wanting to leave Natsu behind a second time, Kageyama tried to protest, but she screamed at him to go. Only she would be able to take on Hinata.

 With the world spinning around him, Kageyama took a few baby steps forwards and wobbled his way towards the exit, which had indeed been kicked open. He could feel the cold night air playing across his face.

 A hand grabbed him from nowhere and threw him back. He hit a wall with a thud and slid down it, dizziness washing over him. He could barely stand up now, he was on the verge of throwing up. The white dazzling light that stood over him made him shut his eyes.

 'Kageyama!' A familiar voice was shouting for him. He didn't look, he just let his top-half drop to the ground as well.

 Somebody was scooping him off the ground and holding him in their arms. They started swearing immediately and the movement of the wind around him told Kageyama they were moving quite fast. He dared to look, and found Daichi's face hovering above him.

 'Shit, Kageyama, I've got to drop you.' He didn't bother saying anything to response to this and felt himself being gently dropped on the ground. There was soil and twigs beneath him. He was in the forest somewhere, staring up at the starry sky above. Daichi was pacing up and down at his feet, shaking his arms and swearing under his breath. 'That really hurt. Fuck.'

 'Where... where... Hinata...Natsu...' Kageyama couldn't get many words out. He was worried that the Hinata siblings were going to really hurt each other, and Oikawa was still there. He could easily attack Natsu.

 'Ssh, don't talk, hold still. I'll go get Suga, he's just setting something up.' He disappeared for a moment before returning with Suga. He had moved as fast he was just a blur. 'Vampire speed' were the words that came to Kageyama's mind.

 Suga's face appeared over him, looking as worried as he always did. Hands were lifting up his shirt and he tried to protest, but Suga told him to stay still and he had to attend to the wound. He said the following things he applied were going to sting.

 He wasn't wrong.

 Kageyama cried out and clenched his teeth together while Suga began rubbing something over his chest. It was thick and sticky, like mud.

 'It's okay, it's okay, it's just a healing solution, I already had it prepared, I figured you weren't going to come back in a decent state- you never do. Please try to focus on your breathing, Kageyama.'

 'Is the trap done, Suga?' Daichi was asking. Suga nodded.

 'Yes, and I've sent Tsukishima back to the inn to get a stretcher so we can carry Kageyama back. Are you sure Oikawa will follow us here?'

 'There's no way he's going to willingly let Kageyama back into our care. I've got Noya distracting all the other angels, so none of them should report back to him about what we're planning.'

 'Will Natsu be alright? I've not been able to heal her while we've been in confinement. She's lost a lot of her feathers, her powers will be incredibly weak compared to Hinata.'

 'She should have gotten herself out of there now that Kageyama is with us, like you told her to.'

 'I hope so.' Suga was fretting. He let Kageyama's shirt fall back into place and let out a long sigh. He smiled down at Kageyama, his eyes red and puffy as though he'd been crying. 'I'm so sorry you got dragged into all of this. I tried to protect you from this world, but you're as stubborn as your father was.'

 'My... father...' Kageyama rasped, but Suga put a hand on his forehead, shushing him gently.

 'Don't try to speak, not yet. I will explain things soon, but we haven't got time. We're going to lure Oikawa into a trap, and I need to get you back to the inn. I've warded it against angels.'

 'Shoyo...' Kageyama spluttered, his voice breaking as he began to sob. Hinata was a monster. He wasn't the timid little human boy he'd fallen in love with. Everything he ever thought he knew was just falling to pieces around him and it hurt more than the cuts in his chest.

 'Oh, Kageyama, please, don't cry. We'll sort this, I promise.'

 'Do you have some way of returning Hinata to normal? Is there a spell you could do?' Daichi was asking and Suga shrugged.

 'I've never had to deal with angel magic before, but I can research it. I'll try everything in my power, but first, we need to stop Oikawa.'

 'Won't the others be a problem, even if we trap him?'

 Suga shook his head. Kageyama could make out a lot of bruising on his face and hands. There was still a mark on his neck, which, now that he was looking more closely, resembled puncture wounds. Bite marks.

 He really allowed Daichi to drink his blood?

 Wasn't that supposed to kill him? Or turn him into a vampire?

 'They'll go search for another leader. Angels are pack animals. They follow the alpha. It's likely Iwaizumi could take over as the alpha, but he doesn't have the same grudge against Kageyama's father that Oikawa does, so I don't know if he'd continue this fight.'

 'Can you kill an angel?' Kageyama finally got some words out. Both Daichi and Suga turned to stare at him, but had his face turned towards the stars. Did that mean there was a God after all? A Heaven and Hell?

 If there was a God, then Kageyama hated him. How could someone who had created all of this let such bad things happen? And why create the human race if his only intention was to send down angels to wipe them all out?

 'Those blades they carry work on other angels,' Daichi replied. 'But it's impossible to get hold of one.'

 'If you get me one,' Kageyama said, his mind swimming. He was in a daze. His whole body felt numb now. He wasn't sure what that stuff was that Suga had spread on his skin, but it was working. There was a faint minty smell coming from it. 'I'll stab it through his heart.'

 'Like we're letting you anywhere near Oikawa again. You've seen what he did to Natsu, and look at Suga's face,' Daichi's own face grew dark. Suga looked down at his knees. 'You wouldn't stand a chance against him.'

 'You're forgetting I have my pendant.' Kageyama closed his eyes, breathing in the forest around him. He almost felt like he could just lie here forever.

 'We could just throw him at Oikawa,' a familiar voice interjected. Kageyama peered out from under his eyelashes and could just make out Tsukishima's lanky figure. Yamaguchi was stood behind him, holding a rolled-up fabric stretcher. 'Maybe Oikawa would set aflame and we'd be able to end this.'

 'With the protection Oikawa has, there's no way we'd be able to get Kageyama anywhere near him,' Suga said, getting to his feet. He had Yamaguchi help him lift Kageyama onto the stretcher, both of them making a lot of fuss about burning their hands. 'Not to mention he has Hinata on his side, who is the only person who can touch Kageyama without harm.'

 'If that wolf... was a werewolf...' Kageyama said slowly, wishing he had some water. His mouth had gone really dry. He was certain whatever was in that solution Suga had used, it was making his brain feel very funny. His body seemed oddly relaxed. 'How could it touch me?'

 'Didn't you see the bandages on Asahi's hands the next day?' Suga said and Kageyama frowned. He might have recalled Asahi having bandages, but his memory was fuzzy.

 'Attacked by Asahi, of all people.' Tsukishima snorted and Yamaguchi joined in. Suga scolded them both, but Tsukishima continued. 'Didn't you wonder why everyone was making fun of you?'

 'It was a full moon!' Suga snapped, putting his hands on his hips. 'You know Asahi has no power over himself during a full moon, and poor Kageyama is just a human. How could he have taken on a fully-form werewolf?'

 'He would not shut up about it the next day. I told him there was no point complaining because he couldn't apologise to Kageyama without giving himself away.' Tsukishima sighed. 'Anyway, are we taking him back or what? I have no desire to face Oikawa or his gang of winged weirdo's.'

 Daichi had raised his hand for silence. Everyone obeyed. He titled his head, as though he was listening, and then nodded to Suga, who silently instructed Tsukishima and Yamaguchi to pick up either end of the stretcher and follow him through the trees.

 Kageyama had no idea where they were going, but soon found himself being laid down at the edge of some kind of clearing that was covered in dark leaves. Suga knelt down next to him and began fussing over him again, even though he'd already seen to Kageyama's wounds.

 'What-'

 'Ssh.'

 A flapping of wings made Kageyama turn his head. Someone was soaring through the sky, contrasting the raven sky.

 Oikawa dropped down in the centre of the clearing, the silver knife held in his right hand. He raised an eyebrow at the scene in front of him.

 From the trees around them came the other three, all in a fighting stance, ready to pounce. Oikawa scoffed.

 'Is this the best you've got, Mr. Refreshing? I should have killed you when I had the chance.'

 'You can't help gloating, can you, Oikawa? You're the one who let me escape so I'd draw Daichi and Tsukishima away from Kageyama.'

 'I hadn't expected you to return for Natsu.'

 'Then you don't know me very well, do you?'

 A smile slid across Oikawa's lips. 'Unfortunate about the girl. I would have liked to have used her, but Shoyo will be enough.'

 'What have you done to her?' Daichi cracked his knuckles. Oikawa didn't even look in his direction. His glowing eyes were focused on Suga and Kageyama.

 'I let Shoyo finish her off. He'll be on his way soon, do you think you can outrun him?' He showed them his wicked smile. 'Save yourselves and hand Kageyama over to me, and I'll let you return to your shabby little coffee shop.'

 'You know we're not going to do that.'

 Oikawa's head whipped around to look at Yamaguchi, who had been brave enough to answer back. He pointed the knife at him, tracing the outline of his body. 'What do you think, Tsukki? Would you like to see what your friend's insides look like?'

 'I'd rather see yours.' Tsukishima responded in his usual snarky way, even though his eyes were darting between Yamaguchi and the knife.

 'Or do you think you'd be able to control yourself, Daichi, if I spilled Suga's blood? Those little love bites aren't quite enough to satisfy you, are they? Would it turn you on to drain every last drop from his body?'

 Daichi was shaking with anger. He didn't reply.

 'Eenie, meenie, miney...' Oikawa began to sing under his breath, pointing between Suga and Yamaguchi.

  Suga, however, had his own trick up his sleeve and dashed forwards, falling to his knees on the ground and slamming his palms into the dirt, shouting 'YOU' at Oikawa.

 A blue light ran around Oikawa in a circle, spreading like fire on oil, twisting and curving in patterns in the middle, a white shimmering light reflecting off the surface. Oikawa turned this way and that, trying to beat his wings, but they seemed stuck. Then he dropped the knife and clasped his hands to his head, starting to scream.

 It was the worst sound Kageyama had ever heard. It was high-pitched and he was sure he eardrums were going to pop. He slapped his hands over his ears and screwed up his eyes, the earth beneath him vibrating dramatically.

 Suddenly, it stopped.

 Daichi was shouting and he felt himself being hoisted off the ground in his stretcher. He opened his eyes and found Yamaguchi and Tsukishima carrying him again, hurrying him through the trees, away from the main area.

 He looked back to see Oikawa crumpled in the centre, but Hinata was stood over him, his black wings almost hidden by the swallowing night. His hair looked like flickering fire.

 There was no sign of Daichi or Suga.

 Hinata's burning eyes followed Kageyama for a moment, before he bent down and scooped up Oikawa and they vanished in the blink of an eye.

***

 It was only when they had reached the safety of the coffee shop was Kageyama and the others reunited with Daichi and Suga, who were already there, waiting for them. Natsu was also there, lying across the bar.

 With some difficulty and switching of hands, Kageyama was helped into a chair at a table and Suga gave him some weird bubbling potion to drink. He didn't ask what was in it, he just picked it up with a heavy arm and took a gulp. It was warm and didn't taste too bad.

 'Is she dead?' He managed to get out, wishing he could get the taste of blood from his throat. This drink wasn't helping with that, but he was starting to focus on objects better, his mind was becoming sharper.

 'No.' Suga said, moving around the bar. He began examining Natsu's wings, which were so bent and feather-less that Kageyama wondered if they'd ever be the same again. 'I had Daichi take us to the warehouse. Hinata must have left her to come rescue Oikawa, since Oikawa's safety is probably his main priority. It's my fault, I shouldn't have let her go.'

 'She would have gone regardless of what you said, you know that.' Daichi tried to reassure him.

 Asahi came into the room, holding a big box of stuff. He dumped it on the bar and Suga thanked him before rummaging through it. Kageyama was interested in watching what he was doing, as he started to brew stuff in the kettle, but Asahi stopped in front of him, blocking his view. He looked like he was about to cry and Kageyama just heard Tsukishima mutter 'oh Christ'.

 For such a huge, intimidating looking guy, Kageyama had never expected him to have cried so hard. He sobbed and apologised profusely for having hurt Kageyama in his wolf form, and said he would do anything to make up for it, and was so, so, sorry that he had dragged him away when he was trying to help Tanaka.

 'It's fine, forget about it.' Kageyama wanted him to stop crying. Suga had finished doing his little witchy stuff, which he disappointed about. Natsu was being fed something that was giving off a lot of steam. 'What are you doing to her- wait, did anyone ever find Tanaka? I never heard what happened to him. Everyone just kept telling me he'd be fine.'

 'He'll turn up at some point, honestly, don't worry about it.' Suga said, getting Daichi to help him keep Natsu's mouth open. She wasn't conscious, so they were having to tip her head forward to make the liquid go down her throat. 'It's another healing remedy. It's what I gave you when you came back with cuts and bruises. The solution stuff is more plant-based, which was easier to gather together in the woods.'

 'I've never heard of plants that could heal someone instantly.' Kageyama said, lifting his shirt. He no longer had any markings, but he was certain he could still feel those claws under his skin. He tried not to think about it. He tried not to think about Hinata.

 It was all too much.

 'Well, it's handy living in a magical forest.' Suga said, chuckling. He placed a damp cloth on Natsu's forehead. 'We'll get her upstairs in a bed soon, I just want to keep an eye on her and make sure everything is alright. Other than heal what wounds she has, there's not much I can do for her. She'll have to wait for her wings to heal before she gets her power back. It'll take a while, which means she'll be weak. We can't let her leave the inn.'

Suga sighed and took a seat at the bar. Daichi pottered around, making them all something hot to drink. Kageyama appreciated a hot mug of milk more than the weird potion.

 'You knew my father, didn't you?'

 'Yes. I'm sorry I lied to you... just about everything. My parents didn't die in a boat accident. They are dead, though, but they died a few hundred years ago. What would you like to know about him?'

 'What was his name.'

 Suga smiled. 'We all called him Al.'

 'Is that short for something? Alphonse? Alfred?'

  Suga mumbled, and Kageyama didn't quite catch it. Suga ignored it. 'He was a traveller, obsessed with the supernatural. Of course, humans have had knowledge of it, but it's all ended up being myths and legends now. Sightings are just believed to be fake and everybody thinks vampires are sparkly, these days.'

 Everyone in the room tittered except Daichi, who looked sullen.

 'Your father believed in it, and there was plenty of mystery surrounding Sunshine Bay and the forest behind the mountains. Really, people are supposed to stay in this town, but you can't stop everyone if they want to leave. So stories of mystical beings and mermaids in the lake spread, and it got a lot of tourism for the Bay-'

 'Do humans enter the forest? Are they not just blindly wandering around the town, thinking Tsukishima is a tree?'

 'I take offence at that.'

 'No, there are wards set up, from a long time ago, by my ancestors, that prevent humans from seeing or entering this town. There are loop holes, like possession usually works, because there's something supernatural going on.'

 'But my father entered.'

  'Yeah, he did, and believe me, we were all just as shocked. I tested him for magical blood but he was pure human. I don't know whether him believing hard enough was the cause, or if the ward just stopped working, I don't know. I can't give you the answers to that, but he came to this coffee shop about twenty-years-ago and began asking me all these questions and I was too baffled to even reply.' Suga smiled at the thought. 'He was a nice man, your father. Hard-working. He was getting on a bit, I'm surprised your mother was so interested.'

 'She wasn't from here, was she?' He just had a sudden image of his mother with some kind of devil horns. Suga laughed.

 'No, she was from the Bay. He met her when he was staying there, she owned the hotel he lived in. She was much younger than him, but I don't think that bothered either of them. She could not enter this town, but he always took presents back for her. There's a patterned teacup I gave him-'

 'The blue one?'

 'Yes! She still has it?'

 'It's on the mantelpiece. She shouted at me when I was little for almost smashing it. I never realised it had meant so much to her.' He paused. 'Did she know about this town, then? And she let me come here?'

 'You're a lot like your father, you know. You're just as stubborn. I bet she knew that there'd be no stopping you, especially if Hinata was involved.' 

 That was true. He would have left regardless of what she had said.

 And of course, he would never have believed her if she had told him the truth.

 Perhaps she had hoped he would get here and find nothing but forest, and return, disappointed, but safe.

 'Oikawa, who is technically in charge here, and has been since Hinata's father died, was furious. He wanted him out of town, believed humans to be the scum of the Earth. We tried to reason with him, but it didn't help. Not to mention your father riled him up, a lot. He didn't seem scared that he was this all powerful angel.'

 'Why didn't Oikawa just kill him?'

 'I had given him one of Hinata's feathers. Ah, don't look at me like that, me and Hinata were never a thing, I've only ever dated Daichi. We were very close friends though, we both grew up in this town together, and it was a sign of friendship, him giving me a feather. He's very protecting of those he cares about, but I felt your father needed it more than me. He probably still wears it to this day, which is why Oikawa struggles to find him.'

  _Both me and my father carry the same feather around our necks_... Kageyama touched his pendant, wondering where his father was now.

 'He left because of me, then?'

 'Yes. When your mother fell pregnant, Oikawa found out. He had spies who found out about the relationship, but your father had been doing his best to keep secret, and the baby too. We knew he'd kill both of them just to punish Al. We helped hide her, protect your house. That's why Oikawa had to lure you out, rather than just coming with Hinata to attack you in your home.'

'Where did he go?'

 'I couldn't tell you. He took off and never came back. I haven't heard from him.'

 'You think he would have come to see me, at least once.' Kageyama said, looking disheartened.

 'I suspect he didn't think he could risk it.' Daichi added. 'If anyone followed him back, plus, it was likely he never knew where you had ended up.'

 'You look just like him.'

 'Do you have a photo?'

 Suga shook his head. 'I'm afraid not. Asahi, Tsukishima, do you think you'd be able to carry Natsu upstairs. Put her in the room next to Kageyama's.'

 Both boys moved without complaint and gently carried Natsu out of the room. Suga drained his coffee. He looked serious. 'Kageyama, about Hinata.'

 Kageyama felt like he'd recieved an electric shock. He jumped to his feet. Nothing hurt him now.

 'I just thought- what if Hinata comes here? He got in before! He was talking to me and Daichi, wasn't he?'

 He looked to Daichi to confirm it. Suga raised a hand.  

 'He won't. Not with all of us here. On our own we might not match the power of a Tengu, but together, we could easily bring him down.'

 'What are we going to do about him? Can we capture him somehow so you can fix him? Anything.'

 'That's what I need you to listen to me about. I don't know a lot about how to overcome angel magic, but I can try my best. However, if that fails, then you might have to accept your loss.'

 'What do you mean by that?'

 There was a pause before Suga finally spoke.

 'We may have to kill Hinata.'


	15. Misfortune

When Noya burst through the door, it gave the whole room a mini heart-attack. He asked what had happened and when they explained that Natsu was upstairs and in a very bad way, he rushed up to see her. He came down about ten minutes later with Tsukishima and the pair of them took a seat at the bar. Asahi had remained upstairs to keep an eye on Natsu. 

 The height difference between them was ridiculous. Noya's legs dangled from the bar stool. He banged on the top of the bar, demanding a shot. Suga sighed. 'Come on, Suga! I've been keeping a squad of crazy angels busy! I deserve at least one! Or two. For your pal, come on.'

 To Kageyama's surprise, Suga did not pull out a bottle of something alcoholic, but went to the fridge in the corner behind the bar and produced a can of whipped cream. Noya's face lit up in delight and he grabbed a shot glass and slammed it on the surface in front of him so Suga could squirt in a swirling pile of white cream. Kageyama stared around the room, very confused.

 'What's-'

 He didn't have chance to finish his question, as the door was thrown open once again and everyone jumped (apart from Daichi, who must have sensed whomever was outside). It was too dark outside to have seen anyone approaching.

 Saeko entered the coffee shop, accompanied by her brother, Tanaka, who was sopping wet and looking mildly-disgruntled. He squelched over to the bar, leaving puddles of water in his wake, and took a seat next to Noya, who had already finished his cream. He took one look at Tanaka, who had seaweed stuck to his head, and burst out laughing.

 'We were wondering when you were going to show up.' Suga said, looking a little relieved. He poured Tanaka a beer.

 'I had to help him,' Saeko yawned, rubbing her eyes and falling into the remaining stood next to her brother. 'Yachi didn't want to let go.'

 'What happened to you?' Kageyama asked. Tanaka huffed and swivelled in his seat to speak with Kageyama.

 'You saw what happened to me, got dragged under, didn't I? You were supposed to help, you son of a bitch.'

 'Hey now, Tanaka, watch how you speak to people.' Suga warned. 'Kageyama couldn't have done anything to help you, jumping in the water would have gotten him killed.'

 'I drowned about a hundred times! Do you know how painful that is, to keep choking over and over?! Do you?! Shall I throw you in the ocean, huh?' Tanaka had risen from his seat but Saeko pushed him back down again. She frowned at him.

 'Calm down, Ryuu. I got you out in the end, didn't I?' She flashed a grin. 'You're really useless with your powers sealed, aren't you, lil' bro?'

 'Shut it.' Tanaka grumbled, drinking half of his beer in one go.

 'What are you?' Kageyama asked. 'I thought you'd turned into a fish or something?'

 'A FISH?! DO I LOOK LIKE A FISH?' Tanaka started again and both Saeko and Suga slapped him around the back of the head. Tanaka jabbed his thumb at his own face, looking smug. 'I'm a God.'

 'Really?' Kageyama was sceptical. Saeko laughed. 'You?'

 'What's that supposed to mean, huh, punk? You wanna go?'

 'Ryuu, stop it. Explain to him, look at him, he's so confused. Surprised you're taking this news so well, Kageyama.' Saeko smiled at him. 'I've known humans who...'

 She mimed shooting herself in the head.

 Kageyama shrugged. 'I'm still a bit freaked out, but I don't see the point in getting worked up about it. I've seen enough evidence to show me it's real. It's hard to deny any of it now, especially after seeing Shoyo...'

 He trailed off. Tanaka was picking a barnacle off his leg.

 'Bet you wouldn't have believed us if we'd told you in the first place, huh?' He said. Kageyama shook his head. He would have gotten angry and shouted at them for treating him like an idiot.

 'Are you _the_ God?' Kageyama found himself asking, which made everyone in the room bar Tanaka start crying with laughter.

  _Probably not, then._

'There's not just _one_ God, you little brat. I'm the God of Misfortune.'

 'The what what?'

 'Sit down, Ryuu! Really!' Saeko scolded him. 'Kids these days are only taught about the guy with the beard. There are many different types of Gods, Kageyama. They each bring something different to the world. Angels come from a certain God, who they believe to be the all-powerful, 'true' God.'

 She made quotation marks with her fingers. 

 'He's a twat.' Tanaka mumbled into his drink. Saeko nodded.

 'He is the God of Creation. They believe because he created the universe, he must have also created all the other Gods too, but there's no actual proof of that. I am one of the Seven Lucky Gods, the God of Wealth. Ryuu is basically my opposite. We had Suga seal his powers because he kept ripping open wormholes and causing natural disasters.'

 'It wasn't that bad!'

 'You destroyed my entire coffee shop the first time you set foot in it! And don't you forget about the tsunami you caused in town two-hundred years ago!'

 'It wasn't a big deal.' Tanaka waved a hand lazily. Noya snorted, holding out his glass for more cream.

 'No, you're not getting drunk.' Suga glared at him.

 'Hold on, hold on, I'm still lost.' Kageyama raised his hands. 'Why is he drinking cream? And what dragged you under?'

 'The mermaids.'

  'What?'

 'Didn't you wonder why we warned you to stay out of the water? With Kiyoko and Yachi?' Suga asked. Kagaeyama blinked at him.

 'You said they didn't like it when you interrupted them, because they were training.'

 Suga laughed. 'Well, I made that up. They're really nice girls, but it's a sort of instinct of theirs to drag humans to the bottom of the sea. I'm sure there are plenty of human stories about sirens and stuff.'

 'Kiyoko is so beautiful.' Tanaka sighed dramatically. 'I wouldn't mind staying with her.'

 'You were complaining a moment ago about having to drown over and over again.' Tsukishima pointed out.

 'Shut up! I would endure anything just to be with her!'

 'So you can't swim in the ocean at all? How many mermaids are there?'

 'In that part, just Kiyoko and Yachi. There are other colonies but they live further out to sea. The only reason those two stay so close to the pier is because they like to come on land.'

 'They can do that?'

 'I have a potion that gives them legs, so if you've seen them out and about, that's the reason. When they fully immerse themselves in water again, their tails return. You can probably swim with Kiyoko without her dragging you under, she's a lot older so she can control her natural instincts better, but Yachi is very young. She's only about forty-years old, so she will do what comes naturally to her. She feels awful about it later, she just wants to keep everyone as her friend.'

 'If I find the bastard who knocked me in-' Tanaka said darkly, but Kageyama cut him off.

 'It was Oikawa. He told me. He said you were an oaf and you were getting in the way, because he wanted me to throw my pendant in the ocean.'

 'Stupid git!' Tanaka pulled a face. 'I'll take him, just unseal my powers and we'll see how he does being sucked into a black hole! And you should be thanking me, Kags. I told you to keep it on, but no, you had to be a whiny little baby about it. You still have your head because of me! You should bend at my knee!'

 'Like hell I will!'

 'You little-'

 'Stop it, both of you.' Daichi snapped and they both fell silent. 'And Noya, put that cream down!'

 Noya had been sneaking over the bar to grab the whipped cream can Suga had left lying around. He looked sullen and dropped it. 

 'So, the cream thing?' Kageyama questioned. Tsukishima gave a small snort, which Yamaguchi mimicked.

 'What are you laughing at?!' Noya snarled. Tsukishima mocked being frightened.

 'Ooh, what are you going to do? Throw glitter on me?'

 'I'll kick your butt, that's what I'll do!' Noya got to his feet but before he could do anything, Tsukishima had picked up a nearby salt shaker and tipped the contents onto the floor. Kageyama was very confused, and even more concerned when Noya gave a large groan and dropped to his knees and began to count.

 'Ummm?'

 'For heaven's sake, Tsukishima. Did you really have to?' Suga sighed, grabbing a dustpan and brush. He made Tanaka drag Noya away while he swept up the spilled salt. Noya was badly protesting and only calmed down once the salt had been tipped down the drain, although he kept twitching. Suga turned to Kageyama. 'Noya is a pixie.'

 Even Kageyama laughed. Noya looked outraged.

 'I will hurt you.' He pointed a threatening finger at Kageyama.

 'Yeah, he'll beat his tiny wings at you.' Tsukishima grinned.

 'So, you're a fairy?'

 This didn't please Noya to hear at all, but Suga stopped him before he could say anything nasty. 'Faeries are different to pixies. They live in groups in woodland areas and usually look after young human children. Pixies are pranksters, they like to cause a lot of mischief, and have a different type of magic. Cream to them is like alcohol to us, which is why I wouldn't let Noya have any of that pie the other night. Do you remember me saying he was lactose intolerant? Oh, and if you spill salt in front of them, they have to stop and count every grain.'

 'It's going to bug me for hours.' Noya muttered darkly, glaring at Tsukishima, who was chortling.

 'It's hardly my fault you have such a stupid flaw.'

 Kageyama turned to eye Tsukishima up. A smirk spread across his face. 'What are you then, a gnome?'

 A vein twitched in Tsukishima's forehead. Yamaguchi opened his mouth to protest but Tsukishima put his hand on his face. He let out a small sigh. 'Don't tell him, Yamaguchi. If he's going to insult me, he doesn't deserve to know.'

 Without warning, Daichi suddenly strode over to the door and pulled it open, looking out into the night. Within seconds, Asahi had appeared in the room, and he looked a little on edge. Everyone stared at them, waiting for an explanation. Suga moved around the front of the bar. 'What's going on, Daichi?'

 'I'm sensing something weird. Asahi, come on, we'll go check it out. You lot stay in here.'

 'Be careful, please.' Suga begged, hurrying over to Daichi to give him a kiss goodbye. Kageyama felt a huge wave of jealously wash over him and had to stare down at his feet so no one could see how bitter he looked. He hadn't kissed Hinata in so long. He didn't think he'd ever be able to again.

 As the pair of them set off into the night, everyone moved over to the windows to have a look, but the square outside was empty.

 'Oikawa has to be planning someone, you know he wouldn't let Kageyama go so easily.'

 'He couldn't just... blow up the coffee shop, could he?' Kageyama felt a bit daft asking, but he wasn't sure what Suga's magic actually prevented from happening. Suga laughed.

 'No, angel magic cannot do anything to this building.'

 'Yeah, but what about a proper bomb?'

 'Where do you think Oikawa is going to pick up a bomb from?' Tanaka snorted. Kageyama shrugged.

 'I don't know!'

 'He'll want to watch you die,' Suga said, looking a little apologetic for being so blunt about the subject. 'That's why he wants Hinata to do it. He thinks it's funny. Angels don't have much to do these days, especially with the ever-growing decrease in religion, so he needs something to entertain him for a while. Unfortunately that something is you.'

 'Is that all this is to him? A game?'

 'Nah, he really did hate your father.' Tanaka said, returning to his seat to finish his beer. Suga was tutting at all the water he was moving around. He disappeared into the door that said 'Staff Only' to get a mop and bucket.

 'Hey, I didn't ask you, what are you?' Kageyama said to Yamaguchi, who was still stood looking out the window. He looked a little embarrassed. 'Well?'

 The next thing he knew, he was facing himself. A second Kageyama was stood in front of him, wearing the same outfit and a very un-Kageyama like expression on their face. The doppelganger looked nervous and rubbed at the back of their neck.

 'Yamaguchi is a shapeshifter.' Suga explained and Kageyama's mouth formed a little 'o'. That was actually really cool. Although he was getting a little freaked out looking at himself. Did he really look like that?

 'I think I'm going to be sick.' Tsukshima retorted and Yamaguchi changed back instantly. He giggled.

 'Sorry, I like doing that. I used to play tricks on humans, until Tsukishima told me to stop.'

 Kageyama leaned to whisper, 'Is he actually a gnome?'

 'I heard that.'

 Yamaguchi had to bite his fist to stop himself from laughing. Tsukishima looked very unimpressed.

 'Wanna see my wings?' Noya jumped in, looking eager to show off. Kageyama nodded and Noya revealed a small pair of paper-thin, almost transparent wings. They gave off a silvery-sheen and had branch-like purpley-blue veins running through them. Despite Noya being so loud and boisterous, his wings were very elegant and moved gracefully. 'I can fly, watch!'

 Suddenly, the wings looked very different, and they suited Noya's personality a lot more. They were moving so fast they were just a blur and gave off a small buzzing noise. He floated around the room, doing a few loops, and when he accidentally (on purpose) kicked Tsukishima in the head, Suga yelled at him to come down. 'No more flying in my shop!'

  'I'll get you for that.' Tsukishima said, so calmly it gave Kageyama shivers. He suspected Tsukishima was probably something quite scary.

 Just then, the door flew open and Asahi ran in, panting. His expression was one of pure terror. Everyone got to their feet.

 'Is Daichi okay? Where is he?' Suga demanded, and Saeko squeezed his shoulder.

 'I-It's Oikawa,' he said frantically. 'H-he's, he-'

 'Spit it out.' Tsukishima snapped. Asahi looked even more frightened.

 'Oikawa said for every hour that we don't return Kageyama to him, he's going to start killing off the townsfolk.'


	16. The Man in the Mirror

An uproar immediately followed this statement and Noya was already zipping out the door before any of them could stop him. Asahi gave the group one final panicked look before running out after Noya.

 'Wait! You didn't tell us where Oikawa is!' Kageyama shouted after him. He tried to head towards the door but Suga grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Kageyama, remembering it hurt other people to touch him, wrenched his arm free. 'What?'

 'You need to stay here. It's not safe out there. The moment you step out of this inn, they can get to you.'

 'So, what, you think I'm just going to sit in here and let Oikawa start picking off the townsfolk? That's not going to happen. You can't stop me!' Kageyama snapped. Tsukishima rolled his eyes.

 'Asahi has headed up towards the school.'

 'I'm going!' Tanaka declared and pelted out of the door, with Saeko at his heels. Kageyama frowned.

 'How do you know that?'

 'I'm not going to tell you.' Tsukishima gave him a small, teasing smile and grabbed Yamaguchi at the elbow and the pair of them left the coffee shop, leaving just Kageyama and Suga. He rounded on Suga.

 'How can we stop this? What can we do?'

 'What you can do,' Suga said slowly, walking over to the door. He stepped outside and began running his hands over the wood. 'Is remain in here.'

 A symbol suddenly shone bright on the wooden door. Suga had drawn it with his own blood. Kageyama had not noticed him slicing open the palm of his hand, but now spotted the knife on one of the bar stools.

 Suga slammed the door shut and trapped Kageyama inside. Angry, he wrenched at the door handle and tried to get it open, but it was stuck fast. On the other side, he could hear Suga shouting, 'I've sealed you in. Nothing can get in or out, and don't bother trying any of the other doors or windows, this seal works on the whole building.'

 'What?! What about the other guests?'

 'They all left when I went missing. They didn't feel safe here anymore.' Suga called. 'Just wait for us! We'll come back soon!'

 Footsteps told Kageyama that Suga had run off. He yelled at the top of his voice and picked up the nearest chair, throwing it as hard as he could against the wall. He tried to smash a window with a barstool, but the glass would not break. Instead, the barstool ended up shattering.

 People were going to die and it was all his fault. How could they expect him to sit back and do nothing?

 He kicked over a table and broke another chair.

 But what could he do? He was powerless.

 If anything, the only thing he could do to stop other people from being killed would be to hand himself over and remove his pendant, but he didn't want to die. He was only eighteen. He had a whole life ahead of him, with or without Hinata.

 Would the group of them be able to fight an angel? Or a group of angels? There was more than just Oikawa, and not forgetting he had Hinata on his side.

 Worried, angry and frustrated, Kageyama vented by continuing to smash up the coffee shop. He broke every glass he could find, upturned every remaining chair and table, ripped the pictures from the walls and smashed bottles full of alcohol against the wall.

 Eventually, when he'd finally calmed down, he sat in the middle of the room, staring around at the havoc he'd caused, and suddenly felt very guilty for doing this to Suga's shop. He had no way to fix anything, so he didn't bother trying. He'd take whatever punishment Suga gave to him, should he return.

 What would happen if all of them died tonight? Would he be locked in this inn forever, or would Suga's magic wear off once he was dead? Perhaps not, as Suga did say his ancestors had put spells on this town to hide it from human eyes, and they were all dead. Plus, surely Oikawa would have just killed him when he had him held prisoner, that way the angel warding spell would stop working and he'd be able to enter the Sugar Cup himself.

 His eyes wandered over to the 'Staff Only' door. Curiosity got the better of him and he went to have a nosy, but found it very disappointing. It was just a store room, with various cleaning products and boxes piled high on top of one another.

 Then he remembered the basement.

 He entered the reception area and pushed the door open. He found a set of wooden steps, which he took very carefully, as he was worried he might fall. Each one was creaky and old. It smelt musty down here, and there were no windows.

 Kageyama fumbled around for a light switch and when he finally found some kind of string and pulled it, electric lights came to life overhead. He gasped.

 Besides the messily-made bed in the corner of the room and the squashy sofa next to it, the rest of it looked like some kind of potions shop you'd see in something like Harry Potter. The walls where lined with jars filled with various kinds of liquids, some had stuff floating in them. There were barrels full of ingredients, there was another wall lined from floor to ceiling with leather-bound books, and there was a wooden table underneath the staircase that had a small pewter cauldron sat on a gas burner, along with other mixing equipment and many knives.

 There wasn't a kitchen down here, but then Kageyama remembered Daichi was a vampire and it was unlikely he ate human food. He pulled a face, wondering if Daichi drank human blood and instinctively slapped a hand to his own throat.

 Then again, it appeared it was Suga's blood he was drinking. He wondered why Suga allowed this, surely it hurt him?

 Wandering around the room, Kageyama picked up some of the random items lying around and studied them. He found a small box full of what looked like eyeballs and he slammed the lid shut quickly and tried not to question where Suga got his ingredients from.

 He tried looking in some of the books on the shelf, but found they were all written in different languages, many of them weird symbol languages he couldn't even begin to understand. Some were in Latin, which he had failed to study during school (it was a dead language, he'd always thought, so what was the point?) and the one he did find in his own native tongue turned out to be a regular human cookbook, which was very disappointing.

 A small silver fridge sat under the table with the cauldron on it. He knelt down and opened it, finding many bagged lumps of red-meat, which he did not want to question, and many silver flasks. He picked one up and unscrewed it, taking a sniff. He regretted it immediately, as he recognised that scent.

 Blood.

 Daichi's private supply.

 Tiredness had started to wash over him and he was doing his best to keep himself awake. He glanced at his watch and realised it was three in the morning. He couldn't sleep though, not while they were all out there, potentially risking their lives for him. He had to wait up until they came back.

 Slumping on the sofa, he rubbed his eyes with his knuckles and yawned very loudly. Did any of them sleep? He knew Daichi did during the day, but that was obvious. He hadn't seen Suga sleep much, perhaps there was a potion he could make that kept him awake?

 Kageyama could go for something like that right about now, he could feel his eyelids drooping and his mind kept slipping out of focus. He slapped himself with both hands.

 Thinking he'd go stick his head under a cold tap, he got to his feet and moved towards the stairs, bur found himself pausing. He'd spotted his reflection in a mirror that hung on the wall, only, his reflection wasn't moving in time with him.

 Confused, wondering if this was some weird magical mirror of Suga's, he approached it. His reflection was staring back at him. He moved his head from side to side, but the reflection did not copy him. He could see it moving, it was breathing and it kept blinking. When it tilted it's head to observe the real Kageyama, he jumped back about a mile.

 'The fuck?' He murmured, approaching it again. Why on earth would Suga want a mirror like this? What purpose did it hold?

 Then the reflection raised one hand and held it up. He could see the palms going slightly white, the way they do when pressed up against something. Could this be some kind of alternative universe? Did Suga have a doppleganger he switched places with every now and again?

 Knowing it was probably a bad idea, Kageyama lifted his own hand and placed it over his reflections. He wanted to know what the reflection wanted, and what would happen.

 His reflection smiled. It was weird seeing himself smiling like that. That was probably the smile he had once given Hinata, back when they were dating and everything was normal, that had made  Hinata freak out and jump over a park bench to get away from him. He had said it was strange seeing Kageyama genuinely smiling like that.

 When nothing happened, Kageyama went to lower his hand and turn away, but found something gripping at his wrist. He looked back to see the reflection had half-stepped out of the mirror and had grabbed hold of him.

 Panicked, he yelped and tried to pull himself free, but this reflection was stronger. It dragged him forwards and together, they toppled into the mirror.

 

 A cat was watching him.

 Kageyama was seated in Angel's Park, waiting for Hinata to turn up. He was already ten minutes late and Kageyama was starting to get very irritated. He glanced at his watch again, grumbling under his breath about how he was going to slaughter Hinata when he finally showed his face.

 The cat meowed.

 'Get lost!' Kageyama hissed at it, trying to shoo it, but it ignored him. It was an odd-looking cat. It's fur was a strange mix of brown-and-yellow. It had vivid yellow eyes that seemed to be staring into his soul. He didn't like it. He aimed a kick at it, but it just moved lazily away. 'Stupid animal.'

 'Tobioooo!' Came a cry from behind him. He turned to look and saw Hinata jogging towards him, carrying a volleyball under one arm. There was that stupid silly grin on his face that both annoyed Kageyama and made him remember exactly why he had fallen in love with this boy. 'I'm here! I'm here! I got held up! Sorry!'

 'I'm going to wring your neck-' Kageyama got to his feet and Hinata squealed and skidded to a halt so Kageyama couldn't grab his head.

 'I'm sorry!' He repeated, giving Kageyama his big dopey puppy-dog eyes. Kageyama sighed and just clipped him around the ear instead, before giving him a hug and kissing the top of his head. His hair always smelt amazing.

 'We should get lunch after practise.' Kageyama said, taking the ball off of Hinata, who nodded eagerly.

 They linked hands and began walking through the park together, heading for the volleyball court. They always played together on a weekend. Hinata was getting better at his strikes and Kageyama was determined to be the school's next setter. He was good enough, he just needed to show them he could actually work in a team.

 Another meow. He turned and saw the cat was following the pair of them.

 'Shoo!'

 'Don't be mean to the little kitty!' Hinata pouted, and went to stroke the cat, but it darted out of his reach and climbed up a nearby tree. Hinata looked saddened and took Kageyama's hand again. His face lit up, like he'd remembered something. 'Oh yes, I got you a present!'

 'Huh? What?' They stopped walking and faced each other. Hinata dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out a black feather pendant. He held it up.

 'Your old one looks like it's getting a bit worn, so I made you a new one. Is that ok? You don't have to take it if you don't want to, but I just thought-'

 'T-t-thanks.' Kageyama stuttered. He still wasn't used to receiving gifts from other people. He went to lift the feather pendant from his neck, the old one, but froze. Something was stopping him. Hinata looked puzzled.

 'Is everything alright, Tobio?'

 'I... I don't feel right.' He frowned, stumbling backwards as pain stabbed at his forehead. He dropped the second necklace that Hinata had handed to him. Part of him was telling him to remove the one he was wearing, but another part, a much louder part, was screaming at him not to.

 Hinata's expression changed. He looked irritated. 'Just take it off.'

 'No.'

 The world around him shattered and fell apart. He shrieked and tried to run for it, but there was nowhere to run to. Everything was black for a while, and then he saw a light. He headed towards it, and found himself in the square in Sunshine Harbour. 

 Panicked, wondering what the Hell had just happened, and if he'd had some kind of weird hallucination because of lack of sleep, he headed back towards the coffee shop. He stepped inside and found someone seated at the bar, but it wasn't Suga or anyone he wanted to see. It was Oikawa.

 'H-how did you get you in here? It's sealed!' He cried, turning to leave but found his path blocked by Hinata. He was forced back into the shop and pushed into a chair.

 Oikawa grinned and picked up the bag lying at his feet. He reached in and pulled out a head.

 Suga's head.

 Kageyama screamed.

 'All your friends are dead, Tobio.' Oikawa laughed, stirring his drink. He tapped the metal spoon on the side of the cup. 'There's no one left to protect you.'

 'No... no...' Kageyama felt hot, angry tears run down his face. They couldn't be dead. They couldn't be.

 It was his fault.

 'Iwa, if you wouldn't mind, please, bring her in.'

 Iwaizumi stepped into the room, holding a woman in his arms. She appeared to be asleep. There were bruises all over her arms and face. Her lip looked busted. Kageyama tried to get to his feet, but Hinata pushed him back down.

 They had his mother.

 'Leave her alone!' He cried, struggling against Hinata. Claws dug into his shoulders and he yelled. 'Please! Stop!'

 'Either you remove your pendant, Tobio, or I'm going to kill your mother. After I've killed your mother, I'm going bring Natsu down here and kill her. Then I will make Hinata pluck your heart from your chest. If you remove it and drop it at your feet, I will just use my angel blade and end it immediately. Sounds fair, no?'

 With shaky hands, Kageyama reached up and took hold of his pendant. He began to lift it up. Oikawa's face lit up.

 There was no point fighting anymore. His new friends had all been slaughtered, he had lost Hinata forever, and his mother would die if he didn't comply. Either way, Oikawa had won and he would not make it out of this coffee shop. He would rather Oikawa be the one to kill him than see Hinata do it. 

 However, before he could lift it off his head, somebody grabbed both of his wrists. Startled, he tipped his head back and found Tsukishima standing over him, looking very pissed off.

 'I am so tired of having to babysit you.' He said irritably. 'So snap out of it!'

 Someone whacked him around  the back of the head. His vision spun and he saw the weird cat looking at him again.

 Then it was gone.

 He wasn't in the coffee shop anymore. He was back in the basement, collapsed in a heap in front of the mirror. His reflection was not strange either, it followed him exactly as he sat up. 

 'W-what.' He couldn't understand what had just happened. Had he fallen asleep and dreamed the whole thing? That slap must have been real, though, as the back of his head was stinging.

 'Meow.'

 Kageyama had never gotten to his feet so fast. He stumbled away, his eyes focused on the cat sat in the centre of the room.

 'You're a real pain, you know.' He turned to see Tsukishima seated on Daichi and Suga's bed. He was taking off his glasses and folding them up. He placed them neatly on one of the pillows. 'I'm starting to lose count of how many times I've had to save your pathetic behind.'

 'What's going on? What just happened? Is everyone dead?'

 'Jesus...' Tsukishima got to his feet and rubbed at his eyes wearily. 'No, they're fine. You need to get out of here, I had to break the seal to get in. It's no longer safe.'

 'But everything I just saw? What was it? A dream?'

 'I guess you could call it that,' a new voice spoke. The cat was no longer a cat, but a boy around his own age. He was sitting crossed-legged on the floor, his expression one of complete boredom. He had blonde hair falling to his chin, with brown roots growing through, and yellow eyes with slits for pupils. 'In a way.'

 'Cat... person?'

 'He's a Djinn.' Tsukishima said, and then groaned when Kageyama looked at him with a confused expression. 'A genie. Oikawa must have summoned him.'

 The boy was getting to his feet. He still looked unhappy. He continued to stare at Kageyama. 'Don't take it personally, I have no real interest in you, but I have to grant the wish of whomever summons me. Oikawa wants me to get you to remove your necklace. It'd make things a lot easier if you just took it off. I want to go back to my own realm.'

 'Like hell I will!' Kageyama snapped and the boy sighed. 'What did you even do to me? Was that you in the mirror? How did you get in, Suga sealed the door!'

 'No,' he sighed again. 'I was already in the coffee shop when Suga locked you in. Oikawa knew everyone would run out to stop him when he announced his plan to kill the townsfolk, and Suga would make you remain behind. I can get into people's heads. I made you see what you wanted most, but you were annoying and fought against it, so I tried a different scare tactic.'

 He glared at Tsukishima. 'I don't like you.'

 'I'm not particularly fond of you either, Kenma.'

 'You know him?' Kageyama asked. Tsukishima sighed.

 'We've had run ins before. I'm the only one who can break his spell, so I often get sent to deal with it when people summon him. It's really annoying.'

 Kenma stuck in his hands in his pockets and stared around the room. He showed no emotion. 'Unfortunately, I cannot just leave this time. Oikawa will kill me. I don't really fancy that, so I'm going to have to do my job.'

 'Kageyama, go upstairs.' Tsukishima ordered. Kageyama moved towards the stairs and Kenma came in his direction, but Tsukishima got in his way. 'Go find the others, they're in that warehouse from before. I'll deal with this.'

 And, before Kageyama's very eyes, Tsukishima transformed. He was bigger than before, and had nine golden tails, which were a flame with glittering golden light, but it was unmistakably the same animal that had been following him around since he'd arrived here and protecting him.

 The golden fox.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND NOW YOU KNOW


	17. Golden Fire

' _You're_ the fox?!' Kageyama was gobsmacked. Tsukishima would have been the last person he'd have expected to actually be that annoying little fox. Perhaps it should have been obvious, given his hair in human form was the same colour as the fox's fur, but could never have pictured Tsukishima watching over him and trying to protect him.

 Tsukishima's true form was a lot different to the fox he had seen around town. The nine tails swished back and forth, surrounded by dazzling golden flames that glittered in the light, he was about the size of a wolf and had jet black eyes. Kenma had yet to change his form into anything else, and was watching Kageyama with unblinking eyes.

 'You need to leave.' The fox spoke, but it's mouth didn't move. 'I'm not going to waste time with an explanation. Kenma will try and get inside your head again.'

 'It'd be helpful if you just took the feather off. I don't really want to fight... that.' He pointed at Tsukishima, who tossed his head in annoyance.

 Kageyama was ignoring him. He was too focused on Tsukishima as a giant glowing fox. 'Why would _you_ help me? You hate me.'

  For some reason, Kenma was letting them talk. He looked insanely bored and uncomfortable with the situation. Tsukishima didn't take his fox eyes off of him for a moment, however. 'Don't assume I did it because I actually care. You're irritating and hot-headed, which are two traits I cannot stand, but when Hinata first came to this town looking for his sister, he said to me that if you ever turned up that I should look out for. Suga asked the same of me when you did arrive.'

 'Shoyo knew I was going to turn up?'

 'He suspected it might happen. You're ridiculously stubborn. He knew if you figured out where he was, nothing would prevent you from looking for him.'

 'Why would you do it for Shoyo?'

 Tsukishima's eyes narrowed. He flicked his long tails in annoyance, as thought he didn't want to say, but reluctantly he said, 'He saved my brother's life. I owe him. Now, get out of here, you're pissing me off.'

 'Are you two done, I want to leave already.' Kenma scratched at the back of his neck. Tsukishima took a few steps towards him and Kenma gave a long sigh and transformed himself into a that strange-coloured cat, only the same size as Tsukishima, if not bigger.

 Within seconds, they had clashed. Claws were flying and tails were whipping and they were hissing and spitting, swiping at each other and throwing each other around the room, knocking things over. When Tsukishima crashed into the bookcase, all the books toppled on top of him.

 Kageyama didn't want to just leave him, but someone grabbed his arm. He looked up to find Yamaguchi tugging at him. He didn't make physical contact for too long. 'Come with me, I'll take you to the others.'

 With a worried glance back at Tsukishima, who had now pinned Kenma, he hurried up the stairs and into the reception area. Yamaguchi turned to face him. 'Run towards-'

 'Tsukishima told me where to go.'

 Yamaguchi nodded. 'Fair enough. Trust Tsukki, he can handle Kenma.'

 'How did he break the spell Kenma had on me?'

 'Tsukishima is a Kitsune, it's a type of magical fox and they have the same dream manipulation ability as Djinn's do, so he was able to enter your mind and snap you out of Kenma's trance. They can't get inside each other's heads, so they'll have to battle it out tooth-and-claw.'

 'He- He won't _kill_ Tsukishima, will he?'

 'I doubt it. Kenma isn't a bad guy, honestly, and don't give me that look, but he has to do what he's summoned to do.'

 'Can't we... I don't know, set him free?'

 Yamaguchi laughed. 'It doesn't work like that. Kenma doesn't need to be set free, he lives in his own realm and he's just fine there, what needs to be done is way to stop people from summoning him, but if other people know the spell and the symbols, then we can't really stop them from calling him into our world. Hinata used to summon him a lot just so they could hang out, which Kenma didn't like at first, but eventually they became pretty good friends. He won't kill Hinata's friends, and Tsukishima isn't the type to murder innocent people. If we can stop Oikawa, then Kenma's contract with him will be broken and he will be free to return home.'

 'Ok, let's go.'

 Before either of them could take a step towards the door, however, two large animals came crashing through the basement door, rolling around. Both of them were covered in deep scratches and bite marks. Kenma smacked straight into Kageyama, throwing him off of his feet and he went toppling over the reception desk, knocking the chair over and banging his knee.

 'Quick! This way!' Yamaguchi had appeared, pulling him to his feet. He dragged him into the coffee shop.

 The door  to the Sugar Cup was wide open and there was another blood seal drawn over the top of the one Suga made. Tsukishima had broken the seal to gain access inside.

 'How did you know I was in trouble?'

 Yamaguchi had pulled Kageyama behind the bar, as the two animals came flying into the room, knocking over whatever tables Kageyama hadn't managed to get. Kenma smacked into the wall and there was a horrible crunching noise.

 'Tsukki could smell Kenma. That's how he's been able to follow you around so easily, he has an amazing sense of smell, sight and hearing- well, his sight is a bit poor when he's in his human form. That's why he wears glasses. He dislikes it.'

 'Pretty sure he dislikes everything.'

 More crashing and tumbling. More hissing. Kageyama tried to get up to look over the bar but Yamaguchi yanked him back down again.

 Kageyama almost let out a yelp of fright when he turned to look at Yamaguchi. He wasn't freckly anymore, but had changed into his own version of a Kitsune, although he was brown in colour and had no magical fire.

 'What are you doing?'

 The fox nuzzled at his face. 'I'm going to help Tsukki. You need to make a run for it.'

 Then Yamaguchi leapt over the bar and pounced, hitting Kenma in the chest. The pair of foxes rounded on the cat, backing it into a corner and Kageyama took this opportunity to make a break for it and fled towards the open door.

 He'd made it as far as the oak tree before he realised.

 Natsu was still in there.

 Not wanting to leave her behind a second time, he sprinted back and took the reception area door instead and found himself face-to-face with Kenma, who was back in his human form. His eyes darted into the coffee shop, where he could see Tsukishima lying in Yamaguchi's arms, both now human, both covered in shocking crimson blood.

 'Did you-'

 'He's not dead, if that's what you're going to ask.' Kenma was badly bleeding himself, but he didn't seem like he was bothered in the slightest. He examined a deep cut on the back of his hand for a second, before shrugging and letting it fall. 'He'll heal in about five minutes, so I'd better hurry.'

 'Get away from me!' Kageyama snapped, backing away. He looked around for something he could fight with, but there was nothing.

 Suddenly, a person appeared by his side.

 Himself.

 He blinked confused, and the doppleganger grabbed him and dragged him through the inn door, slamming it shut in Kenma's face. Kageyama wrenched himself free. He was self-conscious about people touching him now he knew it hurt them to do so.

 'Yamaguchi? What are you doing?'

 'Confusing Kenma, now don't speak!' He replied and pulled the door back open. Kenma was patiently waiting for them. He let out another sigh.

 'Do you have to?'

 Neither Kageyama spoke. Kenma was looking from one to the other, but clearly he could not tell them apart. Yamaguchi's copy of him was identical down to the moles on his arms and the cracks in his fingernails. He was even pulling off the perfect Kageyama expression.

 Of course, Kageyama was not looking at him, and copying Yamaguchi, staring straight ahead. He'd give the game away if he started gawking at himself.

 'I can just get inside your head.'

 'Only if you touch one of them.' Tsukishima had walked into the room. His body was still bloody, but he seemed to have healed his injuries. Only, so had Kenma. 'Run, the pair of you.'

 Tsukishima swung for Kenma, who ducked and kicked out his leg. Tsukishima twisted and avoided the attack, and brought his elbow into Kenma's spine. Yamaguchi was grabbing at Kageyama's wrist, trying to make him run, but Kageyama still had his mind set on saving Natsu.

 'Oh, crap! Let's get her!' They had to run to the coffee shop door and slide past the spot where Tsukishima and Kenma were fighting in the reception area. They hadn't turned into their animal selves yet, but seemed just as capable fighting in this form.

 The pair of them ran up the stairs and to the room where Natsu was being kept. She was lying on a bed, her wings folded underneath her back, her eyes closed. She didn't stir when Yamaguchi lifted her into his arms (obviously Kageyama couldn't touch her).

 'Do you want me to grab the feet or something?'

 'No, I have more strength than humans do. I can manage. Let's just go.'

 Together, they ran towards the stairs and froze. They could feel a strong heat coming from the reception area.

 The whole room was on a fire.

 It wasn't like a normal fire either, it was the same golden, glittery fire that burned at the end of Tsukishima's tail. He was stood in the centre of it, in his fox-form, his entire body ablaze. The fire spread faster than anything Kageyama had ever seen, licking up the walls and moving into the coffee shop and the dining hall. The reception desk had turned into nothing but a pile of dust and Kenma was nowhere to be seen.

 'You can't come this way. If you touch the fire, you will die instantly.' Tsukishima warned them. He had not looked up at them, but it was likely he had sensed their presence. 'I have him trapped in the basement.'

 'Don't kill him,  Tsukki!' Yamaguchi called out. He dropped Kageyama's image and replaced it with his own. Kageyama couldn't help but wonder why Yamaguchi had chosen that look for his main image- not that he thought he was bad looking, but he could be anyone he wanted, in the whole world. He could look like Chris Evans if he wanted to, or Johnny Depp, or Robert Downey Jr. (Kageyama wondered if any of these people had ever seen a movie, but decided now was not the time to ask).

 'I'll hold him back for as long as I can! Get out of here! You should have left when I told you to!'

 'We couldn't leave Natsu!'

 'I would have protected her, but forget it now! Climb out the window.' 

 With one final glance over his shoulder, Yamaguchi followed Kageyama back to Natsu's room and waited for him to bust the window in. Kageyama got out first and dropped down, bending his knees so he could balance his landing, and made Yamaguchi pass Natsu down to him.

 Upon touching her, she began to stir and he immediately lowered her to the floor. Her eyes flickered open and she groaned, trying to get up, but she let out a small gasp and her hands went to touch her injured wings. Tears glistened in the corner of her eyes.

 Yamaguchi dropped down next to them and hoisted Natsu into his arms. She didn't object. She still seemed a bit dazed.

 'Everything hurts.' She mumbled. Yamaguchi gently shushed her, telling her that they needed to move her and it was going to be alright. She was healing. 'Is Suga safe?'

 'Yes, Suga's fine. You escaped with him, remember?'

 'We were locked up, we were in that church. Oikawa sealed us in,' Natsu didn't seem to be able to focus on her current surroundings. She was starting to wriggle and Yamaguchi had to tighten his clutch on her so he wouldn't drop her. 'Shoyo was there. He wouldn't listen to me, he wouldn't look at me. He hates me. He hates me. It's because I left him, it's all my fault. He came here looking for me, he should have just let Oikawa take me. I'm so useless.'

 'Hey, stop that.' Kageyama snapped and she turned to stare at him with wide, shining eyes. 'You're safe now, and we're going to get Shoyo back. Suga is safe, everyone is ok. Just worry about yourself, and wait for your wings to heal. We're not going to let anything bad happen to you again. I'm sorry for leaving you in the first place, I shouldn't have done.'

 To his surprised, Natsu smiled. 'Shoyo is safe. That's good. '

 Not wanting to burst her bubble and upset her, they just agreed and took off together, heading towards the industrial estate. 

 Kageyama's mind was racing. His body was tingling with anticipation.

 Could this be their final battle with Oikawa?

 Or was he hoping for too much? 

 Behind them, the Sugar Cup was burning brightly, every inch of it slowly crumbling away into nothing, and a fiery-fox and a quick little cat were at each other's throats.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was supposed to post this yesterday but it was my birthday so I was busy :)   
> My university course has also started up again and it's going to be my busiest year, so I don't know how often I'll be able to update, but I promise it won't be too long between each. I definitely want to finish this fic, because there is still a lot of good stuff to come!   
> :3


	18. Void

Both of them shrieked loudly when Hinata dropped out of the sky.

 They had been running through the residential area, which was deathly silent due to it being about four in the morning, when they heard the rustle of wings and a dark, shadowy figure appeared on a rooftop. Within seconds, it had gone and appeared directly in front of them.

 At the sight of her brother, burning bright against the wash of black sky, Natsu wailed and tried to free herself from Yamaguchi's arms. She cursed at them, demanding to know why they'd lied to her about him. She was still delirious and her eyes kept losing focus. She tried to beat her wings but it clearly hurt her, and she ended up whimpering.

 Kageyama was unsure who Hinata had come here for. His head kept snapping from him, to Natsu, and back again. Oikawa probably still wanted Natsu for his breeding plan.

 'Run for it,' Kageyama whispered, as the pair of them slowly began to back away. Hinata didn't move with them. 'Get Natsu somewhere safe. We can't let Shoyo take her back to Oikawa.'

 'Are you kidding me?!' Yamaguchi hissed back, still trying to calm Natsu down. 'He'll kill you.'

 'He won't, not while Oikawa isn't around. I bet Oikawa wants nothing more than to watch me die. Maybe if I can convince him to take me to Oikawa, I can throw myself at him and hurt him. If I cling to him, maybe he'll catch fire.'

 'Just because Hinata might not kill you at the moment, doesn't mean he won't hurt you. You won't be able to do anything against Oikawa if Hinata rips  your limbs off or something!'

 When Hinata start advancing towards them, the pair of them yelped and made a run for it down a side street. Kageyama heard the flapping of wings and dared a peek over his shoulder, to see Hinata soaring after them, only just higher than the rooftops.

 'What are we going to do?!' Kageyama cried, a mental image springing into his mind of Hinata scooping him up into the air and flying off with him. He also then imagined loads of weird crow babies in a nest that he'd be fed to.

 'This way!' Yamaguchi took them down a small alley and put Natsu down behind a large pile of boxes. Footsteps on the roof above told them they had mere seconds before Hinata would be joining them.

 'What are you doing? You've led us into a dead end!'

 'Watch Natsu.' Yamaguchi looked up. Hinata was staring down at the pair of them. 'I'm going to hold him back.'

 'You're going to fight him?!' Kageyama tried to grab hold of Yamaguchi but he had already jumped. It was the most insane jump he'd ever seen, like his feet were loaded with springs. He landed on the roof next to Hinata with ease and gave a swinging kick, sending Hinata flying out of the sight. 'Are you strong enough to take on a Tengu?'

 He actually didn't know much about Tengu's strengths compared to other supernatural creatures, but Oikawa had spoken about them being war-bringers, and surely he'd pick the strongest supernatural creatures to breed with.

 'I'll just have to become a Tengu then, won't I?' Yamaguchi grinned down at Kageyama and his skin began to change. His eyes burnt orange and his fingers extended into claws. Huge black wings sprouted from his back.

 Before Kageyama could ask him any questions, Yamaguchi had already disappeared. He heard some scuffling going on in the street and he wanted to run to see what was happening, but Natsu was trying to get to her feet. She kept sliding back down the wall, coughing. She was going to wear herself out if she carried on.

 'Hey! Stop that! You're too weak!' He tried to push her back down, but she snapped at him.

 'This is all your fault.' She murmured, and Kageyama felt his heart sink. She was mad at him for leaving her behind. Guilt washed over him and he knelt down in front of her.

 'I'm so sorry, Natsu, but I promise you, we'll get Shoyo back. I will do everything in my power to help him, even if it kills me.'

 Screaming made them both look up. Kageyama hurried to the end of the alley and looked out. Yamaguchi and Hinata were in the air, clashing into each other, slashing with their claws.

 'He's never going to be strong enough to take on Shoyo.' Natsu had joined him, although it appeared it had taken a lot out of her just to walk five steps. She was leaning against the wall, panting, her face glistening with sweat.

 'What do you mean? Aren't Tengu's as strong as each other?'

 'He's not a Tengu. He's a Shapeshifter. He can mimic strength and speed, to some extent, but not magical power.'

 Kageyama remembered noticing that before, when he'd changed into a Kitsune like Tsukishima. He hadn't had the magical flames.

 'What can I do to help him?' Kageyama demanded. Natsu scoffed.

 'You can't do anything. The best thing you can do is leave this damn town. Everyone is getting hurt because you're here.'

 'I didn't ask anyone to protect me!' He snapped back. Natsu sighed and stared up at her brother, who had thrown Yamaguchi to the ground.

 'Shoyo did though. Everyone here loves him, and anyone who Shoyo loves is our family too.'

 Kageyama clenched his fists and screwed up his face. 'All I wanted to do was find my boyfriend. I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't want any of this. I just wanted to go back home with him.'

 Natsu slapped him on the back. She tried to stand up straight, but was wobbly. He tried to catch her, but she hissed at him for hurting her and fell back against the wall again. 'You go. Find the others. I won't be able to make it on my own.'

 'You think I'm just going to leave you and Yamaguchi behind?'

 'If you don't, Yamaguchi will die. He'll keep fighting Shoyo to keep him away from you, and Shoyo will kill him. If you can get away, Yamaguchi can run away. He's got more speed that Shoyo. It's the only reason he's managing this far, since he can dodge a lot of the attacks.'

 'And what, then Shoyo can just take you back to Oikawa? You're weak. You need to be wherever Suga is, he's the only one who can heal you.'

 'Well, you can't carry me-' She stopped, and squinted her eyes at him. Hinata did the same thing when he was thinking. It made his heart flutter.  'I have an idea.'

 'What?'

 She reached behind her and tugged out one of her remaining black feathers, which she pressed into his open palm. He stared at her and then he got mad. 'WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? Ripping out even _one_ feather makes you weaker! What's the point? I already have one!'

 'Take that one off the string and give it to me. I'll keep hold of it. It's fine, don't give me that look. You think I'm going to try and sabotage you. If you wear my feather instead, you'll be able to touch me without hurting me, and you'll still have some protective power, albeit, not as strong as Shoyo's, since I'm not in love with you. If anyone sees you, they're not going to know it's not his, anyway, since they're identical. Once we get somewhere safe, you can switch back.'

 Kageyama didn't stop to argue, because Yamaguchi had started screaming at them to get out of there, that he wouldn't be able to hold Hinata back for much longer.

 Carefully, he unwound the string around Hinata's feather and handed it to Natsu, who slipped it into a zip pocket. He felt immediately exposed after having removed it, but once Natsu's feather was around his neck, he felt a tad better.

 Hoisting her into his arms, he began to run down the street. She wasn't that heavy, so he was able to keep up a fair pace. He called back to Yamaguchi and told him to get himself out of there the moment he knew him and Natsu were out of harm's way.

 'Why didn't Oikawa possess you?' Kageyama asked as they ran.

 'There'd be no point. He's using Shoyo to get to you. I wouldn't be able to touch you while you had his feather on. Plus, it takes months of him prodding and poking inside someone's mind before he can twist it into whatever shape he wants.'

 'But he's had you for a year.'

 'He's kept me under some kind of sedation for the past year, constantly trying to get inside my head, but my will is stronger than that of my brother's. He needed my consent to breed with me, but I refused him. Angel's cannot commit the sin of defilement. When Shoyo came along, he became more fixated on fiddling in his head, which was good for me, as I didn't know how much longer I can keep him out of my inner most mind.'

 'He's murdered people, surely that is a sin?'

 'If acted in the name of God, he can find an excuse for his behaviour. Angel's have their heads so far up their own butts they think they can get away with almost everything. I had to hold him back, I couldn't allow him to breed with me, because I would have been his for life.'

 'What?'

 'Our kind mate for life.' She explained and Kageyama almost tumbled over.

 'Wait?! What? Does that mean-'

 'Yeah, Shoyo has mated for life with you. He'll never be able to love anyone else unless you died.'

  Kageyama couldn't believe it. Out of everyone in the whole world, Shoyo had chosen him?

 'Surely, if Oikawa forced you into a relationship with him, that wouldn't matter?'

 'If I agreed to mate with him, my feelings for him would change. I would only want to be with him and protect him.' She shuddered at the thought, and pointed ahead, telling Kageyama a short cut he could take to get them to the industrial estate quicker.

 An explosion somewhere in the estate made Kageyama jump and he almost dropped Natsu. He walked over to a bench and sat her down on it, and pushed her back down when she tried to get back up again. 'You're too weak to fight. Stay here. And give me my feather back.'

 Reluctantly, Natsu agreed and he swapped feathers. She took her own back and just stared at it, a slightly sad look on her face. Perhaps she had thought the first time she would give away one of her feathers willingly would be to a lover.

 'I'm going to go in.'

 She didn't say anything.

 Kageyama understood how she must be feeling. He'd felt absolutely useless that past year that Hinata had vanished. She obviously wanted to help fight, but in her current condition, she knew it would be foolish of her to try.

 As he approached the warehouse he'd been previously attacked in, a huge dark wolf skidded into his path. He shrieked and jumped for cover, expecting the wolf to attack him, but it turned its head and observed him. Then it patted a paw on the ground, signalling Kageyama to come closer.

 'A-Asahi?' He asked, and the wolf nodded.

 It was different to when he had seen it last time. Now that it wasn't a full moon, Asahi had control over his wolf form. He couldn't speak in this form like Tsukishima or Yamaguchi could.

 'Where are the others?'

 Asahi nodded his head towards the warehouse. He then turned to look down the path at an Angel that was fast approaching.

 Kageyama knew this meant he needed to get inside, and quick. Asahi pounded towards the Angel, a new face that Kageyama didn't know, and his giant paws hit him directly in the chest, taking him down. A flash of silver meant the Angel had pulled out his blade, but Asahi had his wrist in his jaws and was crunching down, drawing blood.

 He didn't stay to watch. He had to only hope Asahi would be able to take this Angel by himself and he entered the warehouse, but was almost knocked backwards by something small and speedy zooming past his head.

 Noya was giving chase to another unknown Angel, who was flying around the ceiling. This Angel was clearly unhappy about the limited space, as his wings were so big they kept hitting pipes and he would fall down every now and again. He definitely did not have the speed to keep up with Noya, who was shooting around the room like an excited puppy, clearly enjoying himself way too much, and he kept throwing handfuls of multi-coloured glitter at the Angel, which would explode in bright puffs of colour in his face. The Angel coughed and was thrown to the side, which meant these explosions actually did some form of damage and weren't just there to be pretty.

 Daichi was wrestling with the Angel, Iwaizumi. He had his fangs bared, but was trying to bite him. His and Iwaizumi's strength seemed rivalled, as they were both pushing against each other, trying to get the other down.

 Suga was taking on Oikawa, who looked livid. Suga had carved symbols into the palms of his hands and kept pressing them against barrels and boxes, which would make them double in size and explode in Oikawa's face. He wasn't very speedy, but these distractions meant he could get some distance away before he pulled out a row of a tiny bottles from his pocket, all attached with a string.

 He tugged one of, green in colour, and lobbed it. It smacked Oikawa straight in the chest and burst open, shrouding him with a green gas that made Oikawa gag and splutter. He had folded his wings into his back to give himself more room to move about.

 Kageyama didn't know what to do, and was ready to move forwards, hoping to go grab Oikawa while he was busy, but someone pulled him back.

 Startled, he turned to lash out, but found the Tanaka siblings stood in the corner of the room. They weren't fighting, they were just watching what was going on.

 'Stay over here. Suga's drawn a protective circle, the Angel's can't breech it.' Saeko told him, pointing to the floor. They were indeed standing on a symbol, drawn with blood.

 'Why aren't you fighting?'

 'Why the fuck didn't you stay where you were supposed to?' Tanaka grabbed him and shook him, before swearing and removing his hands from Kageyama's shoulders. He looked grumpy. 'How'd ya' even get out, Suga said he sealed you in.'

 Kageyama quickly explained about Kenma the Djinn and Tsukishima turning up. He then said Hinata had turned up and about Yamaguchi fighting him and Natsu lending him her feather so he could carry her.

 'The inn and the coffee shop completely burnt down. Tsukishima set the whole thing alight! I couldn't have stayed there if I wanted to.'

 'Stupid four-eyed moron!' Tanaka huffed. 'I always said to him that glittery-ass fire of his was dangerous. Suga's gon' be really upset when he finds out. He's owned that place for hundreds of years.'

 'Blame Tsukishima, not me!'

 'Did I say I was blamin' you?!' Tanaka rounded on him but Saeko pulled him back. She sighed.

 'Having Kenma out and about is a real problem. He won't stop until he accomplishes his task.'

 'Tsukishima said he could stop him.'

 'Since Tsukishima can get inside people's heads like Kenma can, he can snap people out of their trance, but he can't send Kenma back to his own realm. Suga can usually do that, but he's busy. If Kuroo was around, that'd be helpful, but he's buggered off.' She looked irritated. Kageyama frowned.

 'Kuroo?'

 'He's a wizard.'

 'What's the difference-'

 'Between a witch and a wizard?' Saeko interrupted him. Her eyes were watching Suga, who had thrown another bottle. It was red this time, and caused a mountain of sticky foam to form around Oikawa's feet, making him fall over. 'Witches have to use seals and create potions. It's a lot more effort. Wizards can just perform magic from within themselves. Kuroo is actually quite close with Kenma, and he can easily seal him away, but unfortunately he took off with some of his other wizard friend's for a while. I doubt he'll be back any time soon.'

 'That's handy.' Kageyama grumbled. Noya zoomed overhead and out the door, making the Angel chase him.

 Iwaizumi had Daichi pinned against the wall, and even though his neck was really close to Daichi's mouth, he still wasn't biting him. Kageyama pointed this out to the other two.

 'It's cos vampire's can't drink Angel blood.' Tanka explained. 'It's poisonous to him.'

 'Are you going to explain why neither of you are fighting?'

 'Well, I'm a God of Wealth, so my powers aren't really useful for fighting. Not that I'm a bad fighter, don't assume I'm a weakling, but I'm not going to kid myself and think I can take on a fully-fledged Angel. As for little Ryu here-'

 'I'm taller than you, woman!'

 'His powers are sealed, remember?'

 'Can't we... unseal them?'

 'Sure, let's suck everyone into a giant void, shall we?' Saeko joked and Tanaka snorted.

  Kageyama puffed himself up and stepped out of the circle. Both of the Tanaka siblings protested, but couldn't pull him back when he fought against them, since they couldn't hold on for very long. He was heading towards Oikawa. He was going to grab him while he was down and cling to him until Oikawa burst into flame.

 However, before he could reach Oikawa, Kenma appeared in front of him.

 He had no injuries to speak of, and since Kenma could change his appearance at will, his clothing had no blood stains.

 Instantly, Kageyama wondered what had happened to Tsukishima.

 Yamaguchi hadn't turned up yet, but neither had Hinata. He hoped he was alright, too.

 'That was a pain.' Kenma sighed and Kageyama backed away. Saeko grabbed him and pulled him back into the circle, but Kenma just stepped over it. He examined the markings for a moment before rolling his eyes. 'Do I look like an Angel to you?'

 'You wanna fight, huh, punk?' Tanaka had stepped forwards, his fist raised. Saeko slapped him around the back of the head.

 'Don't get into a fight you can't win, Ryuu.'

 'I'm just doing my job.' Kenma shrugged, and reaching for Kageyama, but he smacked him away. It didn't seem to hurt Kenma when he touched him. He tried grabbing hold of his wrist, but Kenma just blinked at him. 'If you're thinking that will burn me, you might as well not bother. This isn't my real form, so it doesn't hurt to touch you.'

 A hand went to Kageyama's head but Saeko brought her leg out and swept Kenma off of his feet. He landed on his backside, but didn't complain. He got up again, looking tired.

  His cat-like eyes were fixed on Tanaka. He gave a very, very small smile. You could barely see it. He pressed his hand to Tanaka's chest and symbols all over Tanaka's body began to light up. Saeko screamed and tried to get her brother away, but it was too late.

 On the other side of the room, both angel and demon had stopped fighting. They had turned to look what was going on.

 Suga cried 'NO!'

 'You son of a bitch!' Saeko was shrieking, trying to hit Kenma, but Oikawa appeared and flung her across the room (she had stepped out of the seal). She crashed into a boiler tank and fell to the floor, blood running from her forehead.

 'Kenma, this isn't what I ordered you to do.'

 'Hmm, well, maybe if you disappear too, I can go home.'

 A huge black orb had appeared in the centre of the room, white lightning cracking around it. Oikawa tried to grab Kenma, but he transformed into a cat and slunk out of the door. He hissed, and tried to get to Tanaka, his dagger in hand, ready to kill, but he couldn't break the seal.

 Next to Kageyama, Tanaka was shaking violently. His whole body was lit up with the odd symbols and his eyes had turned completely white.

 'What's going on?!' He called. Oikawa stared him straight in the eye, stood mere centimetres from him but unable to grab him.

 'Kenma's released this idiot's seals and gotten inside his mind. He's creating a vortex, and we're all about to be sucked into it.'

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you know what's a good idea when you're writing - to actually check back on your fic planning as you go  
> because I was reading through it and I realised that it was actually Tsukishima who was supposed to fight Hinata, and I completely forgot.  
> BUT ITS FINE  
> Gives a bit more insight to Yamaguchi's powers, which is good


	19. Kiyoko's Kiss

 Within an instant, all the Angel's had vanished.

 Kageyama was left staring at the spot where Oikawa was previously stood, before his eyes moved up, focusing on the swirling mass of black in the middle of the room. Bright white sparks were still flying from it, and the energy in the room seemed to be shifting, he could feel his hair standing on end from some form of unseen static electricity and it was getting steadily harder to breathe.

 Suga had rushed over, grabbing hold of Tanaka and shaking him desperately, but whatever Kenma had done to him was going to be that easily reversed.

 A few of the boxes and crates in the room started to rattle, and Daichi hurried to move Saeko out of harm's way. She was awake, but seemed dazed after the hit to the head. She was mumbling something about Tanaka, but it was hard to hear over the noise the black hole was making. It was like static on a TV.

 It hurt Kageyama's ears.

 'Do something!' Kageyama shouted, pressing his hands to his ears. Suga was pulling up Tanaka's shirt, running his hands over the glowing symbols.

 'I can't! Kenma's broken the seals, and while Tanaka is in this state, I can't reapply them! Where's Tsukishima?! He'll be able to get inside Tanaka's head to kick Kenma out of there!'

 'Is he literally inside his head?' Kageyama found himself asking, before shaking his head, remembering he shouldn't ignore Suga's question. 'He got into a fight with Kenma at the Sugar Cup. Suga, I should tell you-'

 A box flew past them and got sucked into the hole. Upon impact, it turned into nothing but dust and disappeared.

  _Shit._

 'Slap him awake if you have to! Surely, there must be something you can do to stop him! Can't we knock him out?'

 'No, that won't work. Without Tsukishima, the only thing we can do is try and get him to snap himself out of it. If he can focus, he can clear his own head, he's powerful enough to!'

 'Well, do that then!'

 Daichi had appeared by their side. Saeko tried to reach for her brother but Suga stopped her. 'Get her out of here. Go with her, as far as you can.'

 'You think I'm going to leave you behind?' Daichi frowned. Another box soared into the void. They all stared at it, terrified. Daichi and Suga's hair was standing on end and it would be highly comical if the situation weren't so dire.

 'I'll fix it! Just get Saeko out of here!'

 'I'm coming back.' Daichi said, before speeding out of the room in the blink of an eye.

 Noya came fluttering in, landing next to them. He stared from Tanaka to the void and back again, before placing a hand on his forehead. He then turned and punched Tanaka as hard as he could in the stomach, only to wail and clutch at his own fist. He hopped around for a bit before shaking his hand out and saying, 'Well, I tried.'

 'Tanaka! Listen to me, it's Suga. Can you hear me? I don't know what Kenma is showing you inside your head, but it isn't real. It's all an illusion. A dream. Please, hear me. You've opened up a rift and you're making it stronger by the minute. We're going to get sucked in to it if you don't focus and calm yourself down. You'll destroy this whole town. Saeko will die, I will die, Daichi, Asahi, Noya, Kageyama, Hinata-'

 At Hinata's name, Kageyama felt his insides shrivel.

 'RYUU!' Noya yelled directly into Tanaka's ear. No change. 'DON'T KILL ME, YOU JACKASS.'

 'Noya, that's not helping.'

 'It might!'

 Kageyama took a few painful gulps of air. It was as though the black hole were sucking the oxygen from the room. His chest hurt. 'Couldn't we go outside and shut him in, and just seal it?'

 Suga shook his head. 'My magic isn't stronger than his.  This thing will keep going until it's sucked in everything. We have no other choice but to snap Tanaka out of it.'

 Without saying anything, Noya zipped out of the warehouse. He probably needed to breathe properly, and Kageyama decided to follow him. Once outside, he could feel the rush of sweet cold air in his lungs. He bent at the knee, panting, looking back at the warehouse. Suga had remained with Tanaka, Kageyama could still see him desperately shouting.

 Asahi had appeared, now in his human form. He looked insanely worried and kept fretting about what they were going to do, which wasn't really helping the situation. Daichi had yet to return.

 'Surely Saeko would have been the best option to snap Tanaka out of it, being his sister and all? She must know him best?' Kageyama suggested, and the other two shrugged. Noya was hovering over Asahi's head, and, despite the situation they were in, couldn't help occasionally pulling at Asahi's bun, making him cry.

 Huge cracks began to appear in the side of the warehouse and a loud, craashing sound told them that the roof had caved in. Dust flew everywhere and they coughed, covering their eyes.

 'SUGA!' Noya shouted, trying to fly forwards but Asahi grabbed hold of his ankle, stopping him.

 'It's not safe!'

 A figure appeared in the dust cloud and Suga came into focus, his sleeve pressed over his mouth, his eyes watering. He indicated for them all to move back, as more of the building fell in. Kageyama could see shapes moving, and then disappearing.

 The dust soon all got sucked into too and all that was left was Tanaka stood on an empty concrete flat, while this ball of energy continued to consume whatever was left of the warehouse that once surrounded it. The buildings on either side were starting to crumble, the glass shattering and flying into the void.

 They could feel the pull of it now. Kageyama's feet had started to scrape along the ground and Asahi had to grab him by the scruff of his collar and yank him back (which made him choke). He had hold of Noya tightly, who's wings didn't seem to be working properly. He ended up wrapping his legs around Asahi's waist, as the pull wasn't affecting him quite as badly, and they all had to run for it and get out of the industrial estate.

 Once at the gates, they stopped to catch their breath and could hear the sound of yet more buildings collapsing in on themselves.

 'It's going to take the whole town if we don't do something!' Kageyama cried, while Asahi tried to shake Noya off of him but he wasn't keen on letting go. He kept yelling about 'not wanting to die, but if he had to, he was taking Asahi with him'.  Suga didn't say anything, he was staring ahead, his eyes glazed over, deep in thought.

 When he jumped, so did everyone else. His eyes had lit up. 'I have an idea! Wait here! I'll be back soon!'

 He took off at a sprint and disappeared around a corner before anyone could ask what his idea was and where he was going.

 The three of them stared at each other, bemused, and turned to look into the industrial estate, where they could see chunks of rock flying behind the remaining standing buildings. There were a lot of warehouses to get through here, so hopefully this would give them plenty of time before Suga could come back. Kageyama was concerned that this was where the town made all its supplies, but decided that this was probably the best place this could have happened- had it been in the coffee shop or in the residential area, innocent people would die.

 Nearly all the warehouses had gone by the time Suga had come back. All that was left in the industrial area was Tanaka, still stood rigid and glowing, and the giant black hole, still shooting out static electricity. It had started working on the brick wall that surrounded the estate, and the iron fence was squeaking and the metal was bending inwards.

 The pressure was back again, trying to pull them in.

 It was a relief to see Suga hurrying towards them.

 Kiyoko was with him.

 Kageyama remembered Suga saying he could give them potions to turn them human, so that's why she currently had legs. She wasn't wearing any clothing, only Suga's jacket to cover herself. She was wet, her hair stuck to her skin. He'd ran all the way to the pier to fetch her.

 It was a clever idea though. Surely, if anyone could make Tanaka focus, a wet, half-naked Kiyoko could.

 'Won't she get pulled in?!' Asahi fretted, as Suga explained what he was going to have Kiyoko do.

 She held up her hand, where Suga had drawn a symbol in blood.

 'It's a weight charm. She's now a thousand times heavier than her natural body weight. Go on, try to lift her.'

 Asahi was too bashful to touch her while she was wearing so little, so Noya tried, unwrapping himself from Asahi. He fluttered over head and tried to pick her up (she didn't look very pleased about being hoisted around, but she allowed it) and eventually let go, very red in the face. 'She's like a house. N-not that I'm calling you fat or anything, Kiyoko!'

 'It's fine. I'm going, or that wall is going to give way.'

 They all watched as she stepped through the gate, which was now bent completely in half, and began walking towards Tanaka. Her clothing was pulled forwards, and so was her hair, but she was standing strong. The closer she got to Tanaka, the more she had to dig her feet into the ground. She slid a little when she reached him and wrapped her arms around him, to stop the pull from taking her.

 His power was stronger than anything Suga could do, after all.

 While she had been walking, Suga had drawn a symbol around them into the dirt. It was a protection charm he said, so it would stop them from being pulled in for a short amount of time. If the ground broke, then the charm would wear off. They had to rely on Kiyoko now.

 She was talking to Tanaka.

 'What's she saying?' Noya asked Asahi, who looked pink in the face.

 'I-I shouldn't eavesdrop!'

 'You can hear them?' Kageyama asked. He flushed.

 'Well, yes, my hearing is good, but it's probably a private conversation.' He ended up crying out when Noya smacked him around the back of the head.

 'Tell us, you doof. It's important.'

  'Ah! Okay! Okay! Please don't hit me again.' He turned his head to look at them. 'She's just saying how she's always been fond of him, and how she hopes he'll take her out on a date sometime.'

 'REALLY?!' Noya looked very upset. 'Kiyoko, why?! I thought we were meant to be! How can she like Tanaka!'

 Suga was laughing. 'No, Noya. I just asked her to say those things because I figured that would be what Tanaka wanted to hear most in the world. Does it seem to be working, Asahi?'

 The wall crumbled and flew towards the void. Asahi yelped.

 'No! He's not shifting.'

'Try tactic number two!' Suga cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted at Kiyoko. Kageyama was surprised she heard this over the static noise, but he figured that maybe mermaids had good hearing as well.

 Sighing, Kiyoko let her arms wrap properly around Tanaka's neck and she pressed her lips against his.

 'Look!' Suga cried, pointing.

 Tanaka's hands had moved.

 They had slunk around Kiyoko's waist, pulling her closer and he was kissing her more passionately. The void began to die down, and anything that had been floating towards it fell to the floor.

 The moment the void disappeared completely, they all broke Suga's seal and ran towards the pair of them.

 Kiyoko was trying to wrench herself free and had to rescued by Asahi, who pulled Tanaka away.

 Noya kicked him in the head. Tanaka screeched at him, rubbing the lump now forming on his skull.

 'What was that for, you brat?!' He whined. He rounded on Asahi. Kageyama had never seen a man of Asahi's size flinch like that before. 'How dare you pull me away from my beloved Kiyoko?'

 'Tanaka, look around you.' Suga said.

 He paused, blinked and turned slowly on the spot. He turned to Suga. 'What happened?'

 'You happened!' Noya hit him again. 'You went all glow-y and created one of your stupid vortexes that sucked everything in. We almost _died_.'

 Tanaka began patting his own body. 'B-but, the seals-'

 'Kenma broke them. Oikawa has been threatening him and he got inside your head and created the vortex. We had to bring Kiyoko here to snap you out of it.'

 Kiyoko was stood behind Suga, looking a little displeased. Tanaka was almost in tears. 'So, you didn't come here to confess your undying love and kiss me in the rising sun?'

 The sun had just started to creep behind the mountains and the sky was a startling orange colour, that reminded Kageyama of Hinata's hair.

 When Kiyoko shook her head, Tanaka dropped to his knees in despair. Noya landed by his side to comfort him.

 'What did you see, while Kenma was in your head?' Kageyama asked, thinking about the happy world that Kenma had created for him. Perhaps he had shown Tanaka dating Kiyoko, or getting married. He thought about what he'd seen, meeting Hinata in the park for a game of volleyball, and a sharp pain made him stop breathing for a second. He had to stop thinking about a life that he could possibly never have again. There was no knowing how far gone Hinata was- for all he knew, Oikawa could have scrambled his brain so much that there was nothing left to fix.

 No, he couldn't think like that, or all this was pointless. There would be no point for him fighting if he didn't think there was the slightest chance Hinata could be saved. He wasn't going to let Suga, or anyone, kill him. He'd come here to rescue his boyfriend, and that's exactly what he was going to do, regardless of how powerful an Angel he was up against.

 Tanaka frowned.

 'Nothing. He didn't give me any visions. I don't even remember it happening, one minute you were all fighting Angels, the next, I could hear Kiyoko's voice, and I was trying to figure out where it was coming from, because everything was all black, and then I felt her kiss me and I was so happy.' He let his head drop and crawled towards Kiyoko, grovelling at her feet. 'Please, Kiyoko, let me take you out, just once.'

 'No, thank you. I'll be going now, I don't like leaving Yachi on her own, so please let go of me, and try to not destroy our town again.'

 'Just leave my jacket on the pier.' Suga said and she nodded. She tried to walk off but Tanaka grabbed her ankle. 

 'Tanaka! Don't be rude!' Suga snapped, but Tanaka ignored him.

 'A kiss goodbye, Kiyoko?' He got to his feet and tried to kiss her, but she hissed at him. Her face changed in that split second, her eyes going jet black and her teeth sharpening. Kageyama guessed even the most beautiful of mermaids had a scary side.

 As Kiyoko walked away, Tanaka wailed on the floor until Suga grabbed him by the ear and made him get up.

 'I need to re-do your seals, so hold still.'

 'My, my,' a voice came from behind them, making them jump. They span around to find Kenma staring at them. He looked around. 'You're a real pervert, Ryuunosuke, I didn't enjoy being inside your head at all, although, your power is quite something. I wouldn't have destroyed the town, you know. Kuroo would be unhappy to come back and find it gone, and I quite enjoy spending time here, when there isn't too much ridiculous drama going on. I just wanted to scare off the Angels.'

 'You're not getting my feather, if that's what you're here for!' Kageyama growled at him. Kenma shrugged, looking vaguely bored.  He was watching the sunrise. Kageyama glanced at his watch, it was just after five a.m. He'd been awake for so long he was surprised his body was still functioning this well. He assumed he was probably running on adrenaline by the point and if he were to sit down, he would probably just collapse. It wasn't like he had a bed to sleep in anymore, now that the Sugar Cup was gone.

 'There's no point me trying now. I went against Oikawa, so he's probably already got plans to have me killed. I won't help you, either, so don't ask. I will warn you that now your safe haven is gone, you're going to need to find new shelter, and fast. Oikawa will come for you. You should try to meet up with your friends too. I didn't kill Kei, he's joined up with Tadashi and Natsu now. They're in the town square.'

 'Why tell us this if you said you aren't going to help?' Kageyama asked. Kenma shrugged.

 'I'm not going to help you fight, but that doesn't mean I don't want you to win, so it's just a little advice. Don't expect anything else from me.'

 'Wait, what do you mean, our safe haven is gone?'

 Kenma didn't answer. He just transformed into a cat and began to walk away from them, his tail held high. 

 He jumped into a nearby tree and settled there, closing his eyes.

 Noya was going to go knock him off the branch but Asahi took hold of his ankle again.

 'He's the one that caused all of this!' Noya indicated to the wreckage around them. 'At least let me sock him once!'

 'Ah crap, I feel terrible.' Tanaka rubbed at his head. 'The townsfolk are gonna hate me, but hey, at least I got to kiss Kiyoko! More than you can say, Yu!'

 'Shut it!'

 'Someone had better tell me what Kenma means by our safe haven being gone.' Suga cut across them, stopping them from starting a brawl, as Tanaka now had Noya in a head lock and Noya was throwing his magic exploding glitter around, some of which caught Asahi full in the face. Kageyama shifted from one foot to the other and Suga's eyes turned on him.

 Suga, as sweet and friendly as he appeared, could also be terrifying.

 'When Tsukishima was fighting Kenma, he turned into his Kitsune form...' Kageyama began and he could see the colour in Suga's face drain. He already knew what was coming. 'He set fire to everything. Your coffee shop... your inn... they're gone.'


	20. What's Next?

There was nothing quite as heartbreaking as seeing the look on Suga's face when they had returned to where the Sugar Cup had once stood. Both the coffee shop and the inn were completely gone, there was nothing left except a large hole in the ground, filled with dark ash.

 They had found Daichi, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Saeko and Natsu there when they'd arrived, all stood staring at what they had once considered to be their home. Of course, Tsukishima was looking incredibly guilty and the moment Suga came, he bowed his head and turned away, not able to make eye contact.

 When Suga tried to walk forwards, to climb down into the ash-filled hole, Daichi grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him back. He hissed, and ducked back into the shadow of the town hall, as the rising sun made his skin begin to smoke.

 'What are you doing?'

 'There might still be something...' Suga seemed a little out of it, like he was struggling to accept the reality in front of him. Daichi kept a firm grasp on him because he kept trying to go. 'My books... or potions... or something. In the ash, I'll look.'

 'You can't touch the ash, it's still hot. It'll take days until it's safe to touch.' Yamaguchi said. He looked a bit worse for wear after his battle with Hinata. He had long scratches down his arms and the side of his face, which were still quite bloody. He didn't heal like the others did, apparently. He turned to look at Tsukishima, who was still looking down at his feet. He tried to take his hand, but Tsukishima wouldn't let him. 'Tsukki...'

 'Nobody blames you, Tsukishima.' Daichi told him, cuddling Suga into his chest, who had begun to cry. He had owned that place for hundreds of years, it had been his home, and now there was nothing. 'You couldn't have taken on Kenma without your full power.'

 'I could have drawn him out of the shop, or just fought him without my flame until Kageyama and Natsu got away,' he said through gritted teeth, his fists clenching. 'I was trying to be careful, to not catch anything, but Kenma kept throwing me around.'

 Tsukishima looked up. He wasn't crying, but he looked distressed. He gave the small group of people a final look before he transformed into the little golden fox and began to walk away. Yamaguchi apologised for him and changed into a little brown fox and scampered after him.

 'Where are we going to go now?' Asahi asked, looking around as though he expected Oikawa and his gang of Angels to come swooping down on them any minute.

 'We'll need to find a new place to hide out. Suga, you'll have to do seals again, will you be able to manage that?' Daichi lifted his head up. Suga nodded, his face shining with tears, and Daichi gave him a small kiss on the tip of his nose. 'Anyone know a place we could go?'

 'Do none of you have houses?' Kageyama questioned. His eyes had been following Yamaguchi, who had now disappeared from sight. He was hoping to ask him what happened to Hinata, but he'd lost his chance. He wondered how Natsu had ended up here, but he'd ask her when they had the time.

 'Most of us just live in the inn,' Asahi said, rubbing the back of his neck.

 'I have a place.' Saeko piped up, making everyone look at her. Her face was bloody, but she didn't seem to care. Her blonde fringe was matted together and stuck to her skin. 'We can all go there, if you want. Ryuunosuke, have you had your seals redone?'

 'No, not yet. I'll be alright though, I swear I won't break anything, pinky promise.' He held up his hand to her but she ignored it. She just glared at him.

 'I won't ask Suga to do anything while he's upset, but if you break _one_ thing, I'm putting you in the garden. Luckily, neither Oikawa, nor any of his Angels, particularly know me, or where I live, so we should be able to hide out there for quite some time.'

 'What are we going to do about Oikawa?' Kageyama didn't want to just hide away. If there was any hope of them helping Hinata and returning him to normal, they needed to do it quick. For all they knew, Oikawa could constantly keep messing with Hinata's brain until there's nothing left to mend.

 Everybody stared at him.

 'We?' Noya queried, hovering over Tanaka's head. 'What are you gonna do? You're _human_.'

 Kageyama was unsure whether Noya was trying to insult him, or if he were just stating a fact, but it riled him up anyway and he spat back, 'Coming from the glitter fairy.'

  'What did you call me?!' Noya tried to fly at him but Tanaka yanked him down by the ankle. He lost his balance and fell to the floor. He jumped to his feet and tried to go towards Kageyama again, but Daichi snapped at him and he stopped immediately. Noya huffed and folded his arms. 'I'm no fairy!'

 'He is right though, Kageyama,' Daichi said calmly. Suga was wiping his eyes, one hand linked with Daichi's. Kageyama felt bitter jealously run through his body. 'I know there's little point in me trying to get you to leave town-'

 'You're correct. I'm not going anywhere.'

 '-but you have to realise that you're just a human, and please, don't take that in a negative way. Look at all of us, we're super powered and even we're not strong enough to take down Oikawa.'

 'If you can just, I don't know, corner him, with this feather on, I can just grab him-'

 'That's too risky! Especially with Hinata on his side! He's not going to let you get anywhere near Oikawa.'

 'I refuse to sit back and do nothing! I'm not just going to hide away! Do you know what Kenma showed me in that vision? He made me believe you'd all died, and Oikawa brought back Suga's head. What am I supposed to do if that really happens? Sit back and twiddle my thumbs? I'm going to do _anything_ , regardless the risk, to save my boyfriend.'

 'You don't even know if Hinata can be saved.' Tanaka said, then immediately regretted it when Natsu, who had been sat on the floor, examining her damaged wings, started to sob. He hurried over to comfort her. 'Sorry, Natsu. I didn't mean it-'

 'It's ok, you're right, though. Seeing him like that... He might be gone forever, Kageyama.'

 'No. I won't accept it. We can do something-'

 'You need to think about this logically-' Suga tried to say, finally able to speak. He was still a bit shaky and wouldn't leave Daichi's side.

 Kageyama cut him, getting steadily more angry. 'I'm going to save Shoyo!'

 'Imagine we did get Hinata back,' Noya added, floating the air again. His wings were moving so fast they were just a blur. 'But you died, how do you think he'd feel? You understand Tengu's mate for life, right?'

 'At least he'd be alive and safe!' Kageyama shouted, his fists balled up. He didn't want to hear any of this. He just wanted them to say 'yes let's go defeat Oikawa and rescue Hinata', and let him pretend everything was going to be ok. He didn't have much choice, there was no way he could just leave town and go home, because Oikawa would send Hinata after him. The safest place for him was with these people, but he couldn't be expected to lock himself away for the rest of his life. What did they seriously want him to do?

 'He wouldn't die if Kageyama did,' Natsu said to the group. 'But it would break his heart and he'd probably never love again.'

 'At least he'd be alive and safe.' Kageyama repeated. He could feel himself shaking. It was all starting to hit him- the reality of the situation he was in. His body was exhausted and he was worried he might have a panic attack. His chest was tight and he was finding it hard to breathe.

 When he staggered backwards, clutching at his shirt, the group stepped forwards, worried he might topple.

 'Kageyama, are you alright?' Suga asked, trying to reach for him but Kageyama batted his hand away.

'Don't touch me! Don't! I'll hurt you.' He had his teeth clenched together and he was unable to think clearly. He was so frightened about everything - over a week ago, he had been at home, missing Hinata and dreaming about the day he would find him again. He'd never expected any of this, he'd never imagined werewolves and Angels and demons. He'd never have thought anyone would be trying to kill him. He grabbed at his hair with either hand and screamed at the top of his lungs, making the group jump in fright.

 Tears were rolling down his face.

 'I never wanted this! I never wanted any of this! Everything that's happened is my fault! You all got involved because of me, you all got hurt! I'm just trying to help you out in the only way I can think of. How is it fair for me to sit back and let you all fight for me? You can sit there and tell me that you did it because 'any friend of Hinata's is a friend of ours' but it's bullshit! I don't deserve it! I'm just a stranger to you! I have caused you nothing but problems, got Suga and Natsu injured, so why won't you just let me go face Oikawa? Who cares if I die? Why do you care? I'm nobody to you!'

 'Kageyama, please don't say that, you're our friend-' Suga tried to say, but Kageyama cut across him, raising his voice.

 'Am I?! What do you know about me? What do any of you know? Do you see my father when you look at me, is that it? Because I'm not him! I don't even know the guy, and it's because of him that my life has ended up like this! He never once tried to find me, what does he care?'

 'Please, calm down, Kageyama, you're getting yourself worked up.' Asahi tried to comfort him, but Kageyama backed away, sobbing harder.

 'Maybe you should all just let Oikawa take me! We could do a swap for Shoyo-'

 'Don't say shit like that!' Tanaka snapped. 'Besides, you know Oikawa has got this crazy plan to overthrow humanity. He's going to keep Hinata by his side, and he's going to keep going after Natsu once you're out of the way for his sick, perverted breeding plan.'

 'You're quick to call other people perverts, Ryuunosuke.' Saeko raised an eyebrow at him and he glared at her.

 Kageyama had fallen to his knees, still in a teary state. He was tugging at his own hair, threatening to tear it out. Asahi dashed forwards to stop him, and Kageyama punched him in the leg. It didn't seem to hurt Asahi, but he still looked very upset.

 'DON'T TOUCH ME!'

 Daichi sighed. 'Kageyama, come on. We need to go. We're at risk being out in the open like this.'

 'Not to mention when the rest of the town wakes up and finds the industrial estate missing,' Noya pointed out. 'They're going to be super mad at us.'

 'I might have to disappear for a while.' Tanaka considered the possibility until he remembered that leaving would mean he would no longer see Kiyoko. 'Do you think she'd let me live at the bottom the ocean for a bit?'

 'You want to constantly drown over and over again?' Saeko frowned at him. 'Not to mention, with your seals broken, if your life is in danger, you'll only create more vortexes. You could kill her and Yachi.'

 'Ah shit, yeah. I'll have to leave her a love letter-'

 'Stop talking about leaving, Tanaka.' Daichi interrupted. 'We still need you. It might be better to leave your seals off for a while. The threat of your vortexes might come in handy.'

 'The townsfolk are going to be seriously pissed though,' Saeko sighed, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jeans. Everyone was staring down at Kageyama, who was still sobbing uncontrollably. It was an incredibly awkward situation; no one knew what to say to calm him down and no one could comfort him because touching him would hurt them. 'That's all the towns supplies, gone. I'd say we could help rebuild, but it's going to take time, and we don't really have that option with the threat of Angels on our backs.'

 'We'll figure it out,' Daichi said. He pointed at the sun. 'I can't stay out much longer. This shade is going to disappear. Let's get to Saeko's house and set up the seals, then we can discuss what we're going to do next.'

 'Lead the way, sis!' Tanaka said brightly.

 'You know the way.'

  'Shut up. Just go.'

  'Er, are we just leaving Kageyama on the floor then?' Asahi asked, looking worried. Suga went over and knelt down besides Kageyama.

 'Hey, come on. We can sort it out when we get to Saeko's. You need some rest, you're exhausted. I'll make you a green tea remedy that will help you have a dreamless sleep.'

  However, Kageyama was in too much of a state to really listen to what was being said to him. Suga kept trying, but eventually he gave up and got to his feet, folding his arms. He tried a more stern approach. 'Kageyama. I know this is a lot to take in, and I don't want to tell you to stop freaking out about it, that's understandable, but I need you to pull yourself together for a few moments until we get to Saeko's house. We're too exposed out here and Daichi is at risk.'

 'I'm going to go ahead, actually.' Daichi said, looking a little worried. They all nodded at him and he sped off.

 'Just leave me here.' Kageyama slumped to the ground. 'I'm just going to let Oikawa take me.'

 'Like hell you are!' Tanaka stomped forwards, wrapped his arms around Kageyama, who protested wildly, and hoisted him to his feet. Kageyama pushed him away and he could see Tanaka had harsh red marks all up his arms.

 'I told you not to touch me!'

 'Shut up! You can whine and snivel all you want when we're safe!'

 'Tanaka, don't say things like that.' Asahi sighed. 'I'd be crying too, if I was in his situation.'

 'That's not really saying anything, Asahi,' Noya laughed. 'You cried when you saw a puppy the other week.'

 Asahi flushed a pink colour. 'It was a really cute puppy!'

 'You're not like... into dogs, are you?' Tanaka peered at him and Asahi looked taken back.

 'No! I was born human! I like humans! Or... well,' he trailed off, not looking at Noya, who seemed puzzled. He cleared his throat and turned to Kageyama, who was wiping his eyes furiously. 'I think a good cry always helps. You should let it all out.'

 'You were born human?' Kageyama asked. Asahi nodded.

 'Yeah. Werewolves are created when a human is bitten. Pretty sure the first one came around due to some kind of witches curse, but it's unclear. I'm quite young, compared to this lot, although I don't really age anymore-'

 'It's always surprising to people when we say Asahi's one of the youngest, since he looks the way he does.'

 'I like my wild look, okay?' Asahi said defensively, the corners of his mouth turning down. Noya snorted.

 'Wild, yeah.'

 'Can you change me?' Kageyama said so suddenly that everyone fell completely silent. Asahi blinked at him.

 'What?'

 'Change me- into a werewolf. You can use your power even when there isn't a full moon. I could help fight that way.'

 'No, no,'  Suga stepped in. 'There's no chance. You don't understand the first thing about werewolves, and being a newly-born one is no help to us at all. You'd be terribly weak at first, you'd need to learn to control your power and you'd have absolutely no control over yourself during a full moon. Look at Asahi, he still can't help himself, and he's been a werewolf for at least seventy years.'

 'He's right, Kageyama. I have to lock myself away during a full moon, usually. The whole town knows to keep indoors when it's a full moon so I won't attack anyone. Tsukishima usually has to keep an eye on me. Not to mention when you first turn, the hunger is unbearable. You'll attack anything, anyone, even your closest friends.'

 'Whatever. I'll ask Daichi to turn me into a vampire then.'

 'That's even worse!' Suga cried. 'Becoming a vampire is an extremely painful process. Your blood in your body all congeals because of the venom and it's agonising. It lasts about a week and then your body dies, and has to heal itself, which takes more time. Then the hunger for a newborn vampire is just as a bad as that of a werewolf, except you can only drink human blood. At least werewolves can go after animals.'

 'Judging by the flasks that were in your fridge, Daichi seemed to be able to get a constant supply.'

 Suga's face went red. A hand instinctively went to the bite mark on his neck. 'W-well, that's because I.. well, I give him my blood.'

 'If you supply him blood in flasks, why do you let him bite you?' Tanaka asked. Suga babbled something and then Tanaka cracked a wicked smile. 'You like it when he bites you, heh?'

 'Quiet.' Suga composed himself, although his cheeks were still very pink. He turned to Kageyama. 'We are not going to allow you to turn into werewolf, or a vampire, or whatever other crazy scheme you might be thinking up. Not only do we not have time for it, newly born anything just aren't as strong, so it wouldn't help. Oikawa is an Angel, he was created before time even began. You think a brand new fledgling vampire is going to be able to take him down? Not to mention, vampires can't drink Angel blood.'

 'Whatever.' Kageyama shrugged. He wasn't crying anymore. The moment had passed. He felt empty now. He wasn't sure how his body was still moving, everything ached. He turned. 'I'm going to go back to the estate. Oikawa might turn up.'

 'You're still considering this whole grabbing-him plan?'

 Tanaka and Noya exchanged glances.

 Kageyama ignored him and began to walk off.

 Behind him, Suga muttered something to both Tanaka and Noya, who looked a bit scared and pleased at the same time.

 The last thing Kageyama saw, before everything faded to black, was Noya zipping out in front of him and blowing glitter in his face and Tanaka swinging his fist at his head.

 Suga had asked them to knock him out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update schedule- Because of my university work load, it's unlikely I'm going to be able to publish a chapter as often as I would like. I'm sorryyyy!   
>  I promise I won't leave it any later than a chapter a week, and if I have the time, I will aim to do more than that.   
>  ughhh real life


	21. Threat

His head was pounding from where he'd been struck.

 When he woke up, he found himself lying in a unfamiliar bedroom, the duvet pulled up to his chin. He sat up, his vision blurring and he clutched at his head, wincing, trying to work out what had happened.

 It was unclear how long he'd been out for, it was still daylight outside the window. He pushed back the curtain, trying to work out where about in town he was, but all he could see were the back gardens of a row of houses.

 Kageyama had to guess this was Saeko's place. The room seemed to fit her aesthetic, the walls and floor were dark, matt colours, posters were pinned up haphazardly and there was plenty of female clothing scattered across the floor. The make-up table in the corner was overflowing and someone had knocked over the jewellery stand.

 Surprisingly, he wasn't mad that Noya and Tanaka had punched his lights out. He felt a lot calmer, the panic attack he'd had earlier had gone, and he didn't feel tired anymore. His body still ached, but he could ignore that.

 His stomach gave a loud grumble and he rolled out of bed, planting his feet on the wooden floor. He wondered where everyone else was and what they were up to. Had they been planning to go after Oikawa without him?

 Of course, he understood their concerns, but he had very little choice. He was thankful to them for trying so hard to protect him, but he wasn't a child, he could make his own decisions. He needed to speak to Suga.

 Exiting the bedroom, he found himself on a dimly lit landing. There was a bathroom opposite him, the door was stood ajar and he could see a sink and a toilet inside. More clothes littered the floor in there, too.

 There were two other doors on the landing, both of them shut. He could hear voices coming from one of them, so he crept over and pressed his ear to the wood to listen.

 'Do you think we should wake him?' It was Asahi. 'He's been asleep all day.'

 'Leave him,' Suga replied. 'We'll wake him up when Daichi wakes up.'

 'Will he be alright? The sun's burnt him pretty bad.' Asahi sounded worried. Nothing unusual there.

 Suga sighed. 'Yeah, he'll heal. I wish I could help him out, but I have no ingredients anymore. Everything's gone. I can't even make the potion that replenishes my blood, so it's going to be a problem when it comes round to Daichi needing to feed.'

 'How much can he take without physically weakening you?' Asahi asked.

 'A pint or two, I guess, but that will give him maybe one or two feeds, at best.'

 There was a shuffling noise and Kageyama jumped, ready to run back to his room, but it seemed they were just settling. Asahi spoke next. 'Couldn't we take some blood from everyone, put it in a flask or something?'

 'There's no way Daichi would allow us all to offer up our blood to him. We can't take anything from Natsu in her condition, Tanaka and Saeko's blood would cause him to hallucinate and he's always said pixie blood is too sweet. I'm sure Tsukishima and Yamaguchi would offer, but they've not come back yet. It puts me on edge, not having Tsukishima around.'

 'He'll know where we are and he'll come if there's trouble.' Asahi reassured him.

 'Yeah, that's true.' The squeaking of bed springs told Kageyama Suga had just seated himself on a bed. Daichi was probably in there. 'I honestly don't know what we're going to do, Asahi.'

 'Do you think we'll be able to return Hinata to normal? You know, if we can rescue him?'

 'It's uncertain. I've lost all my books so I can't read up on it. I'd go to the town library but I bet you any money that Oikawa has already been there and destroyed all the relevant books. I don't know much about Angel magic, or what exactly he's done to Hinata, and who knows how much worse it's getting the longer we leave it. It could already be too late for him.'

 'Do you think we'll have to kill him?'

 Kageyama couldn't bear to listen to their conversation anymore. He didn't want to hear about whatever plans they had in store for Hinata. In his mind, they were going to get him back and everything would be ok. He felt that if he stopped thinking positively, then he would not be able to find any motivation or courage to continue forwards.

 Wondering if Natsu was in the other room, he opened the door a crack and peered in. She was lying on the bed of a small guest room, with Saeko seated beside her in an old, battered armchair. She had a book in her lap and a cup of coffee in her hand. She looked up when Kageyama entered and pressed a finger to her lips, waving a hand, signalling him to enter.

 Carefully, he shut the door behind him and tip-toed over. He spoke very quietly, looking down at the slumbering Natsu. She resembled her brother so much it was starting to get painful to just look at her. She had her damaged wings folded underneath her and she was asleep on her side.

 'How is she doing?' He asked. Saeko placed her book down.

 'She's been crying a lot,' she whispered back. 'Seeing her brother in that state has really upset her and she's feeling useless with her wings in this state. She's scared you're going to do something reckless too, and get yourself hurt. How are you feeling, anyway? Calmed down?'

 'Yeah.' Kageyama said. 'Everything just hit me all at once. All this stuff just sort of happened so suddenly and I've had no chance to actually stop and register any of it, and when I did, it overwhelmed me. I needed that rest, but it would have been nicer if they hadn't hit me. My head hurts.'

 Saeko chuckled. 'You weren't giving them much choice. I doubt you'd have willing gone with them, and they can't drag you, not while you wear that necklace.'

 Kageyama touched the feather gingerly. He still couldn't believe he'd once planned to throw it into the ocean.

 'Go help yourself to some food downstairs. I'm going to keep an eye on Natsu. She wakes up quite regularly and needs someone to calm her down. Ryuunosuke and Yu are down there, so you can hang with them if you like. See if you can get them to apologise for knocking you out.'

 'Yeah.'

 Kageyama left the room and made his way down the stairs, finding himself in a small, nicely lit kitchen. There was a sandwich and an apple on the side, with a note on saying 'For Kags, there's milk in the fridge.'

 As he was helping himself to a glass of milk, he heard talking coming from the other room. Silently, he slid over to the door and peered through the gap. Tanaka and Noya were splayed out in the living room area, on either sofa, drinking beer.

 He wasn't sure he wanted their company, so he decided he'd head back upstairs and sit with Saeko until Natsu woke up, as he wanted to ask her more questions about Hinata and ask how she'd made it back to the inn, but he heard the two boys say his name, which made him linger for a while longer.

 'Think Kags is awake yet?' Tanaka asked. Noya shrugged.

 'Dunno. Probably not. You hit him pretty hard.'

 'I can't help my own strength!' Tanaka took a swig of his beer. 'Even though Suga has sealed this place, being here with Kageyama is making me uneasy.'

  _Huh?_

 'I get what you mean.'

 'Do you really think it's ok to have him around? In his state-'

 'He's only going to get worse.' Noya cut across him. He sat up. He had his wings hidden. 'I know Suga and that want to protect him, but Kageyama's right in saying he's not got much choice. Unless you can somehow suck Oikawa into a portal before he teleports away, we haven't got much luck when it comes to besting him, especially with Hinata and a group of Angels at his beck and call. Honestly, having Kageyama here is just a threat to all our lives.'

 'You're saying we should get rid of him?'

 'Well, n-'

 Kageyama dropped his glass.

 It smashed on the floor, splashing his bare feet with cold milk.

 Hearing the noise, both Tanaka and Noya got up and moved towards the door, but Kageyama was already running towards the back door. He shouldered it open and sprinted across the garden, jumping over the low fence and down a small jitty.

 The ground was cold and painful under foot, but he didn't care. He'd panicked and fled, worried what they might do when they found out he'd overheard their conversation about him.

 It sounded like Noya was going to say 'no' to Tanaka's question, but he still said having Kageyama around was just a threat. They were all in danger because of him. Oikawa would hurt all of them to get to him, and he couldn't let that happen.

 He didn't care about the risk anymore. He didn't care if he died. He wanted to prove to them that he was capable, and that he wasn't just going to sit around and let them all for fight for him.

 After about ten minutes of running, constantly checking behind him, expecting to see Noya speeding after him with his little wings working like mad, Kageyama finally came to a halt to catch his breath. He had no idea where he was. The residential area of town was a stranger to him, and much bigger than he'd initially thought. The street  he was on looked like every other street, and there were no signs pointing towards town or the industrial estate.

 Suddenly, he realised how exposed he was.

 He hadn't been focusing on where he was running, or which paths he had taken, so he wasn't sure how he'd find his way back. He didn't even know what Saeko's house looked like, or what street number it was.

 His wrist watch told him it was six p.m. - he really had slept the day away. He must have been tired.

 The sun would be setting soon, which only made things worse. He regretted his decision to flee. He hadn't even eaten the food left out for him, and his stomach was punishing him for it.

 Surely when Tanaka and Noya told the others that Kageyama had taken off, Asahi would be able to find him. He had a keen sense of smell, after all. He was half expecting the golden fox to appear, but he doubted Tsukishima would be showing his face anytime soon, not after he'd burnt down everyone's home.

 Sitting down on a low garden wall, Kageyama put his head in his hands. Why did he have to run? He honestly didn't think Tanaka and Noya were going to try and hurt him, did he? Even if they were, they couldn't while he wore his pendant. Just hearing them talk about him that way, as though they hated the fact they had to take care of him, like he was such a huge burden on them.

 'You seem stressed.'

 A voice from above made him jump to his feet. He span round and felt his heart fall into his stomach when he was Oikawa seated on a roof of the house that was behind him, his huge white wings folded gracefully behind his back.

 Kageyama turned, attempting to run, but Oikawa just teleported in front of him, hands casually dug into his pockets.

 'Going somewhere, Tobio?'

 'Get away from me!'

 'I'm not even anywhere near you, see.' Oikawa took a step back. 'Don't look so panicked, Tobio, I just came for a chat.'

 'How did you know where I was?'

 'I've been keeping an eye on your group since you left that industrial estate. The poor townsfolk, they're really cross with you. How are they going to feed themselves now, or make supplies? You've ruined everything by coming to this town.'

 'You're the one that drew me here! You sent me that postcard.'

 Oikawa chuckled. 'So I did. Shoyo is waiting for you. Do you want to come see him?'

 'What, so he can kill me?'

 'Oh course not.' Oikawa grinned, but Kageyama didn't believe a word of it. 'Don't give me that look, Tobio. I just want to reunite you with your lost lover, that's all. Come on now.'

 Without really thinking what he was doing, Kageyama lunged at him, attempting to grab hold of him, but Oikawa had already vanished and appeared on the wall he'd previously been seated on. He was laughing.

 'Is that your winning idea, Tobio, to grab hold of me and set me aflame? You think you can actually catch me? Do I look stupid to you? You're putting too much faith in that weedy little feather of yours.'

 'Are you done teasing him already?' Another voice said. An Angel had landed on the roof, his wings just as large as Oikawa's.

Iwaizumi.

 He looked very unimpressed with the whole situation.

 'Hurry up, before they track him down, or that Kitsune turns up. I'm not in the mood to fight with anyone right now.'

 'Yes, yes, Iwa, I'm done, don't worry about it.' Oikawa waved a lazy hand at him, before turning back to Kageyama. 'Come on then, Tobio. We're going to reunite two lost lovers.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~ignores uni work to write fic~  
> woooo


	22. A Hole in his Heart

Trying to run was pointless.

 Kageyama knew this, but he still gave it his all anyway. With both Iwaizumi and Oikawa constantly blocking every path he tried to take, he eventually gave it up as a bad job and agreed to go with them. He knew they couldn't touch him, but there'd be only so many times he could try sprinting off before his body wore itself out. Oikawa had joked that if Kageyama collapsed from exhaustion, he would pick him up by the back of his t-shirt and fly him to where he wanted to go.

 'Perhaps I'd just... let go. That feather can't protect you from natural causes.' He laughed, and Iwaizumi glared at him and told him to act more serious.

 Being marched to his death was not a cheery experience, although Oikawa was doing his best to make it as light-hearted as possible and kept bugging him until Iwaizumi snapped and slapped him around the back of the head, making Oikawa cry out. Kageyama kept glancing behind him, hoping that the others would appear to rescue him, but he was disappointed.

 Perhaps they had given up. Had Tanaka and Noya told them he'd run for it and they'd all sighed with relief- finally, he wasn't their problem anymore. Maybe they all knew that there was no longer any hope left of saving Hinata, so Kageyama was no longer a responsibility of theirs, because they would never have to see Hinata sad and miserable about him being gone. They were probably planning on slicing Hinata's throat the moment the moment arose.

 The path the two Angels took him on was the one that led up to the graveyard. Stepping in the shade of the trees, he felt even more nervous. Was this where he was going to die? Where they going to bury him in that graveyard, in an unmarked grave, and eventually the world would forget of his existence?

 What must his mother think?

 He had never got in contact with her, and he never would again. She'd sit in that house, all on her own until the day she died, wondering what had become of her only son.

 Suga would probably inform her.

 He couldn't help picturing her face when she read the letter or listened to the phone call that Suga made. She'd cry for days, and everyone in Angel's Haven would not comfort her. They'd speak ill words, and say it was 'for the greater good'.

 Their words of comfort would be 'maybe God will forgive him and he will spend eternity in Heaven.'

 Looking at the two Angels in front of him, Kageyama did not want anything to do with Heaven. If these were the creatures that dwelled there, he'd rather spend an eternity in the fiery pits of Hell.

 If Hinata was a Demon, then maybe they weren't all that bad.

 'Do all Demon's come from Hell?' Kageyama found himself asking. Oikawa frowned at him over his shoulder.

 'I'm not going to tell you.' He chuckled, striking a nerve in Kageyama. Iwaizumi sighed.

 'No, they don't.' He replied and Oikawa looked unhappy. He pouted his lip.

 'Iwa! You're not supposed to tell him!'

 'You're attitude is getting on my nerves.'

 Oikawa huffed and sped up his pace. Iwaizumi fell back towards Kageyama, who kept his distance. They were being far too calm for his liking.

 Why were they leading him all the way out here? They could have easily just killed him back on that street.

 'Don't get the wrong idea, me answering your question, I still utterly despise you.' Iwaizumi put it very bluntly. 'Just looking at you reminds me of your father.'

 'I don't understand why Angels care so much about some human traveller.'

 Iwaizumi snorted. 'Is that what they told you? He was more than just a traveller, but you don't need to know about that. He didn't belong here, and he certainly shouldn't have had offspring.'

 'Tell me about him.'

 'No. I'll answer your first question. You know why Hell was created, yes?'

 'Uh, somewhat.' Kageyama had never really paid much attention to his religious lessons at school, although he was starting to regret that decision now. He had thought, back then, it was a load of rubbish and that the knowledge of God, Heaven and Hell would not help him at all in his future. If only past him knew. 'Something to do with Lucifer?'

 'Correct. God imprisoned Lucifer in a cage for betraying him.'

 'What did Lucifer do?'

 'He loved humans.'

 'And that made him deserve being locked up in a cage? Didn't God create humanity, surely he himself loves them?'

 Iwaizumi scoffed. 'After Adam and Eve betrayed His trust, God came to hate what he had created. He had no control over them, not like he has with Angels. Humans are filthy sinners. Even the coming of Jesus did little to help your kind.'

 'That's a bit stupid,' Kageyama said honestly. Iwaizumi looked insulted. 'All they did was eat an apple. I know God told them not to, but it's a bit of an over-reaction to just judge the rest of humanity on something so small and insignificant.'

 'Going against God's word is the worst kind of betrayal.'

 Kageyama couldn't help but laugh, making Iwaizumi looked even more affronted. 'You Angels really have a screw loose, don't you?'

 'Hmph! You'll spend an eternity in Hell, where you belong,' Iwaizumi said, sounding like all the people Kageyama had once known back in Angel's Haven. It was almost comforting. They'd reached the graveyard now. Oikawa was stood at the entrance to the church, waiting for them. 'Your boyfriend won't be there, if that's what you're thinking. There are only certain Demon's that were born as the offspring of Lucifer and Lillith, who was another fallen Angel. They are known as Knights of Hell, they have the same powers as Angels, seeing as they were born from them, but being born in Hell made them cursed and warped. They are disgusting creatures who's only wish is destroy God and everything he has created. Tengu's are the children of another God, a false God. They do not belong in Heaven or Hell. Earth is the only home they know, and when they die, they are sent to Purgatory.'

 'Where's that?'

 'Nowhere.'

 Leaving Kageyama very confused about how Purgatory could be a place, but exist nowhere, Iwaizumi ushered him inside the church. Oikawa shut the door behind them.

 Hundreds of candles were lit around the room. The pews had all been pushed back against the walls and there was a huge wooden cross hanging on the front wall. All the other Angels were gathered around the room, silently watching. Underneath it stood Shoyo Hinata, his large black wings folded behind his back. His hands were clawed and his eyes were on fire.

 'You've got two choices Tobio,' Oikawa said, sounding very gleeful. This was all such fun to him. He'd gone and seated himself on one of the pews against the wall, stretching out his long legs. 'Either, we can do it the easy way and you simply take off that feather pendant, place it on the ground and approach Shoyo, or I'm going to have him attack you and torture you until you remove it.'

 Taking off the pendant would remove any possible chance of him hurting Oikawa or Iwaizumi, but they knew already knew about his plan and wouldn't let him touch them. Even if he did manage to get hold of one Angel, there was several others ready to rip him off, not to mention Hinata would be on him in a heartbeat.

 With trembling hands, Kageyama lifted the pendant from over his head and dropped it on the floor at this feet.

 He was tired of fighting. His choices were limited and he could only hope that Oikawa would keep his word and make his death quick and painless. It could be that he was lying and planned to torture him anyway, but he might as well take his chances and pray for it to be over soon.

 Oikawa nodded at him to go up to Hinata.

 On unsteady legs, Kageyama walked the length of the church, feeling his heart racing and his mind screaming. He wanted to run, he wanted to hide, he wanted to cry and just leave this town forever. He was so scared.

 Kageyama took the steps to the front stage and stood inches away from his old lover, silent tears running down his face.

 When Hinata opened his mouth, Kageyama had thought for a second he was going to say something to him. He wanted him to say how much he loved him, how he would always love him and how sorry he was, but that didn't happen. Instead, Hinata bared his teeth.

 The movement was so quick Kageyama didn't even have time to register it. Hinata had pounced on him, wrapping his legs around his waist and sinking his teeth into the base of Kageyama's neck.

 Screaming, he lost his balance and fell onto the floor, whacking his head. His vision span and he could taste blood in his mouth. The back of his head hurt and he was certain he might have cracked it open.

 Sitting up, Hinata glared down at him, crimson blood dripping from his mouth. Kageyama tried to push him off, but Hinata was heavy. He raised a fist and let it fall, hard, into the centre of Kageyama's face. Pain burst through him and Hinata did it again and again, until Kageyama felt his nose shatter and warm blood gushed over his lips and down his chin.

 Many of the Angel's were laughing. Oikawa was the loudest.

 Of course he had lied. He was going to sit back and watch Hinata beat the life out of him before getting up to cast the finishing blow himself.

 Hinata got to his feet and Kageyama rolled onto his front and tried to crawl away, but a foot hit the arch of his back and sent him sprawling to the floor. He whacked his chin on the hard wooden floor and bit his own tongue.

 A hand was in his hair, pulling him up. He was flung across the room, hitting the church door with a heavy thud and he slid down it, his entire body too weak to get up again. He couldn't focus, everything was blurring. There was so much blood on his face and the smell was starting to make him feel sick. His nose was hurting and he couldn't breathe through it, but opening his mouth made blood drip in and the taste made him gag.

 In his blurred vision, he could see Oikawa's smirking face and Iwaizumi's serious one. He didn't get a long look, however, as Hinata was back, dragging him across the floor. He felt the feather underneath him and tried to grab it but an Angel he did not know the name of appeared and snatched him from out his reach, tossing it to Oikawa, who caught it easily and began pulling at it, bending the feather.

 Even his hopes of Tsukishima and the others bursting through the door to save him were dwindling. No one was coming.

 Kageyama was thrown again, hitting his head on the steps. He pushed himself up, getting to his feet. He kept wobbling and the Angel's were laughing at him again.

 'Shoyo,' he muttered, spitting blood. There were three Hinata's in front of him, fading in and out of his vision. 'Shoyo, please.'

 'Begging won't help you, Tobio,' Oikawa called in a mocking voice. 'But do keep it up, it's highly amusing.'

 'This is boring me.' Iwaizumi was saying. 'Let's just end this already. There's no need for any of this.'

 'You sure do suck the fun out of everything, Iwa.'

 'What did you say to me?' Iwaizumi snapped, getting Oikawa in a headlock. They wrestled for a moment before another Angel broke them up and told them this wasn't the time for it.

 Kageyama staggered forwards, his hands falling on Hinata's shoulders, who was stood dead still. He pressed his forehead to Hinata's, suppressing a sob. 'I love you. If you can hear me, you stupid dumbass, remember that. If they can fix you, I want you to know how much I fucking love you.'

 He raised his head and smacked it hard against Hinata's. Since Hinata had had his guard down, he stumbled backwards, although apparently unhurt. It made Kageyama's head feel like splitting open, however, and he placed a hand to it, while his legs twisted against each other and he fell to the floor.

 'You're a fucking dumbass,' Kageyama was saying louder now, spitting out more blood. One his back teeth felt wobbly. Hinata tilted his head, listening. Kageyama got to his feet once more, although he wasn't sure how long he could stay standing. He pointed at Hinata. 'You should have been stronger than that stupid, pretty-boy Angel.'

 'Aw, you think I'm pretty?' Oikawa grinned. Kageyama ignored him.

 'You should have fought against him, you shouldn't be like this, you stupid, useless-' He couldn't even continue. He let out a sob and let his body crumple to the ground. He wasn't sure where the anger towards Hinata had come from, it wasn't his fault, but yet he just wanted to scream and scream at him until his voice was hoarse.

 Some part of him hoped that if he could rile Hinata up enough, get the real version of him to listen, he'd snap out of it. Hinata would always argue back with Kageyama, no matter how small the insult.

 It didn't seem to be working this time. 

 Was Hinata really that far gone?

 'Keep going, Shoyo. He's still able to get up, that's not good enough.'

 'You're messed up.' Iwaizumi said to him. Oikawa pouted.

 'How mean! He deserves it!'

 Kageyama let his body go limp. It hurt when Hinata kicked him in the ribs, but he didn't even make a sound. His mind had gone numb. He just wanted it to be over. He felt like his heart had shattered in his chest and was slicing up his insides.

 Once again, he was hoisted to his feet. He couldn't support himself, but he didn't have to. Hinata helped him out by shoving his clawed hand into Kageyama's stomach. He gasped, all the air leaving his body, and he vomited blood onto Hinata's shoulder.

 His hands wrapped around Hinata's back and he let his head fall against the shoulder that didn't have blood on it. Despite all the blood mixing in, Hinata still smelt the same.

 If this was where he was going to die, then so be it. At least he could pretend he was wrapped in his boyfriend's arms, he could pretend Hinata was crying and shaking him and telling him to hang on.

 Both of his arms fell and Hinata stepped back, pulling out his blood-soaked hand.

 Kageyama's body collapsed to the floor and he lay, staring up at the high-arched ceiling, wondering if anyone knew there was a bird's nest up there. Two baby crow's were peeping down at him.

 'Oh no, don't give up yet, Tobio.' Footsteps told him that Oikawa was walking over to him. His face appeared, leering down at him. 'It's really quite pathetic, you know. You should put a compress on that wound, or you'll bleed out.'

 A foot went to his neck and started to press down. Kageyama grabbed at Oikawa's leg, trying to lift it away, but had little to no luck. He couldn't breathe.

 Eventually, Oikawa lifted his foot again. He obviously had no intentions of killing Kageyama by choking him. That would be boring, he would have something much more interesting in mind.

 Gasping for air and coughing up his own blood, Kageyama tried to roll away and felt pain sear through his whole body. Oikawa sighed and picked him up under each arm and dragged him up the steps and rested him against the large wooden cross.

 He knelt down in front of him, reached into his jacket and pulled out his silver Angel blade. He dangled it in front of Kageyama's face.

 If he had the strength to, Kageyama would have tried to snatch it from him, but his arms were too heavy and the edges of his vision were going black.

 'Shall we end it already, Tobio? Would you like that?'

 No longer worried about the consequences of his actions, Kageyama spat in Oikawa's face. This pissed him off. He wiped the blood and spit away and stabbed the blade into Kageyama's shoulder, making him shriek. 'You disgust me.'

 The blade twisted and Kageyama yelled some more, writhing where he sat.

 Oikawa pulled out the knife and stabbed it into Kageyama's other shoulder, repeating the same twisting motion. Kageyama could barely move either arm now. The most he could do was make his fingers twitch.

 Because of Oikawa's wings, none of the other Angel's could see what was going on. They ended up shuffling up and around the stage, fighting for a good view. Only Iwaizumi remained seated in the pew, his arms folded and his legs crossed.

 Hinata's little face appeared underneath one of Oikawa's wings. He'd knelt down to watch.

 'Now I know you'd rather sweet little Shoyo finish you off, and it would give me great pleasure to know you'd died at the hands of the man you love, but, I don't want to deny myself the pleasure of being the one to kill you, so, what would you prefer? I hear getting your throat slit is quite a painful experience, because you die choking on your own blood. No, you don't like the sound of that? Hmmm, should I cut off your arms and legs and let you bleed out? No, no, I think, instead, I'm just going to stab you in the heart. I want to watch the light leave your eyes.'

 'You're pretty twisted, Oikawa.' An Angel said. Oikawa shrugged.

 'I don't often get to do this kind of thing, Yahaba, so let me enjoy myself.' Suddenly, Iwaizumi was there, looking concerned. Oikawa looked up at him, frowning. 'What is it?'

 'They're coming for him.'

 Kageyama wanted to be happy at this news, but he had little hope in the others rescuing him now. Oikawa wasn't going to let that happen, he had been snatched away from him too many times before.

 Surprisingly, Oikawa smiled.

 'Good. Then they can watch him die.'

 Without warning, Oikawa sunk the dagger straight into Kageyama's chest. He didn't scream this time, he couldn't. The sharp pain took away his breath and time seemed to slow down around him.

 Oikawa moved, giving Kageyama a visible shot of the church doors, which had burst open. Suga was stood, front and centre, with Tsukishima in Kitsune form behind him, his flaming tail the brightest thing in the room;  Yamaguchi had copied him, but lacked the flames. Asahi was a werewolf, Noya had already zipped inside and was flying in circles around the ceiling, dropping his exploding glitter everywhere, and both the Tanaka siblings were cracking their knuckles. Due to it still being daylight outside, Daichi had not joined them. Kageyama imagined him pacing up and down a blacked-out room in Saeko's place, constantly glancing at his watch, wishing the sun to set faster.

 Kageyama tried to speak, but no words came to mind. His body was starting to fail him.

 He looked down, seeing the knife handle sticking out his chest.

 There was no saving him now. He could feel his own heartbeat stopping.

 Suga was shouting his name. It sounded desperate.

 Letting his body slide down more, Kageyama watched as the Angel's all collided with his friends, and watched as Oikawa ordered Hinata to yank out the knife and hand it back to him. He said something about wanting to use it to cut 'Mr. Refreshing's' head off, like Kenma had shown Kageyama in that dream-vision of his.  

 Hinata's face was inches from his. He tried to find some kind of sadness or regret in Hinata's burning eyes, but there was no emotion there. At least his face would be the last thing he saw.

 When Hinata yanked the dagger from Kageyama's chest, he actually felt his heart stop. He gasped, more blood rising in his throat, and then he felt nothing, all the pain had disappeared.

 Everything faded to black and he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cackles


	23. Blue Eyes

Suga had been seated in the second bedroom of Saeko's house, watching Daichi sleep, when Tanaka had burst through the door, breaking it clean off of its hinges. He had been thinking about what they were going to say to Kageyama when he woke up. There was so little they could do against Angel's, and getting Hinata back seemed completely unlikely, let alone somehow fixing whatever it was that Oikawa had done to his mind. The worst case scenario was that they were going to have to kill Hinata, which is definitely not what he wanted to do, but they couldn't let Oikawa use him to start a war - he knew that if Hinata could have his say, he'd tell them all to lob his head off before he could hurt anyone. Killing would be the last thing Hinata wanted.

 The crash had made Daichi bolt upright, startled, and both Suga and Asahi had jumped out of their skin, rising to their feet.

 Without his seals on, Tanaka's often caused a lot of mishaps. He had wrecked the Sugar Cup so many times that Suga had eventually gotten tired of it and said he'd seal away Tanaka's power, which Tanaka had agreed to because he didn't like causing so many problems for people. He'd never thought he would need his power, so it didn't bother him. Now, with them gone, he'd already broken three of Saeko's kitchen chairs and smashed the mirror in her bathroom.

 She'd shouted at him and told him to sit out in the garden, causing a sibling fight to ensue and Daichi had shouted at both of them and Tanaka had been told to remain in the living room and not move until they told him to.

 'Kags, it's Kags!' Tanaka said quickly, pointing behind him, as though he expected them to understood what the gesture meant. 'He must have been listening to me and Noya talking-'

 'What's happened?' Suga moved over to him, grabbing him by the shoulders.

 'He ran for it. We were just saying we didn't know whether it was a good idea to keep Kags around- don't give me that look, you know he's a huge threat to have, especially when he keeps winding himself up like that- and he smashed a glass and when he saw us coming, he freaked and bolted. Noya's gone after him but you know how terrible his sense of direction is!'

 'Christ, okay, let's go, Asahi, can you sniff him out?'

 'I'll go outside.' Asahi said, and disappeared out of the room. Daichi was climbing out of bed, but Suga but a hand on his chest.

 'It's still light out. You can't go out.'

 Daichi opened his mouth to argue and then closed it again. Grumpy, he sat down on the bed and folded his arms. Suga leaned over and kissed him gently. He knew Daichi hated feeling useless, but he had to put his own safety first.

 'RYUUNOSUKE!' Saeko had appeared, looking livid. She punched her brother in the arm, making him wince. 'What did I tell you about staying in the living room! You're going to pay for that door!'

 'With what money?' Tanaka asked and she hit him again. 'Ow, ow, stop it! Once Suga puts my seals back on, I'll fix the damn thing for you.'

 'You can fix those chairs too, and find a way to get me a new mirror.' She pointed a threatening finger at him. Her fingernails were painted black. 'Why did you break my door, anyway?'

 'What's going on?' Came a little voice, and Natsu appeared in the bedroom doorway, looking very sleepy and quite adorable. Her short orange hair was even messier than usual and she was rubbing at her eyes. 'Everyone is shouting, has something happened?'

 'Ah no, sweetie, let's get you back to bed, okay? You need your rest. My idiot brother has just smashed one of my doors again, it's nothing.'

 Saeko returned Natsu back to her bedroom and returned, demanding to know what had happened in a quieter voice.

 'Kags made a run for it.'

 'Ah shit.'

 Giving Daichi another quick kiss, Suga ran downstairs and out the front door, stopping beside Asahi who was standing at the gate, his head tilted to one side. 'Anything?'

 'I can't pick up his scent. He didn't leave the house this way. I can't hear him either. This is bad, we need Tsukishima.'

 'No one knows where he's gone!' Suga put his hands to his face, stressed. Kageyama would have no idea where he was and would probably get lost, which only gave Oikawa a better chance at snatching him out. 'What could we do to call Tsukishima to us? Do you think howling would work?'

 Noya appeared, flying from around a corner. He stopped in front of them, mid-air. They look at him hopefully but he just shrugged. 'This area is too big, he could have taken any of the side alleys.'

 Groaning, Suga dragged Asahi through the house and out the back door, hoping he might be able to pick up Kageyama's scent this way. Noya followed them through and they were joined by the Tanaka siblings. Daichi stood in the doorway, well away from the sunlight, watching them.

 'If it was dark, I'd be able to run around this whole estate in about thirty seconds.' He seemed irritated. Suga gave him a weak smile, trying to reassure him that they were thankful he could be some help to them and it wasn't his fault. 'Kageyama isn't stupid. I mean, he's impulsive and brash, but he'll know this is the safest place to be. He might have this whole idea in his head that he'll be able to take on Oikawa, but he knows he can't do it alone. He'll try to come back.'

 'Let's spread out-' Suga began to say, when a voice interrupted them. They all looked up to find Tsukishima seated on the roof. Yamaguchi was next to him.

 'He's already in trouble.' Tsukishima looked quite bored and Suga wondered how long he'd been up there. He wasn't surprised that Tsukishima had found them, he could sense everything that was going on in the town.

 The pair of them dropped to the ground and Tsukishima adjusted his glasses. 'Oikawa found him.'

 Everyone gasped. Suga stepped forwards. 'What?! Where is he? We need to get to him-'

 'He's got Iwaizumi with him,' Tsukishima cut across him. Yamaguchi looked insanely worried. 'As well as all the other Angels, but they're keeping themselves hidden from Kageyama's sight. If we're going to go help him, we need to be prepared.'

 He turned to Yamaguchi and held out his hand. Yamaguchi passed him the small rucksack he'd been wearing on his back, which Tsukishima then handed to Suga. He opened it and found it filled with various herbs, plants and berries, along with many small bottles filled with liquids. 'I'm sorry about the Sugar Cup, I could have prevented it and I-'

 'Tsukishima, it's fine. Forget about it. We've got bigger things to worry about. I can rebuild it.'

  Tsukishima looked uncomfortable and shuffled on the spot. 'I found another witch who lives in the mountains and took some of their stuff.'

 'Ah, well, you shouldn't really just take stuff...' Suga felt bad about accepting stolen goods, but he decided there wasn't much else to do but take it. He needed something to arm himself with. 'Well, thank you. Remind me who you got these from and I'll pay them back at some point.'

 'Bokuto something or other,' Tsukishima shrugged. 'I'd avoid him if I were you. He's really rather annoying.'

 His head shifted suddenly, looking off into the distance. Suga slid the rucksack onto his back. 'What is it?'

'They're moving. They're heading North.' His eyes narrowed. 'I can sense Hinata. He's at the church. That'll be where they're taking Kageyama. We have to hurry.'

 It was difficult having to leave Daichi behind. He clearly didn't want Suga to leave, and he was itching to help them out, but they didn't have much choice and Suga didn't have time to waste trying to console him. They kissed once more and Suga hurried off after the others, feeling guilt rising in his chest.

 He knew Daichi would be unable to sit still and wait around until the sun set. At least he'd have Natsu to keep him company.

 The journey to the church seemed to take longer than usual, even though they were moving at animal speed. Asahi had transformed into his huge wolf form and allowed Suga and the Tanaka siblings to ride on his back. Saeko seemed to really enjoy it, whereas Tanaka clung to Suga and shrieked the entire time.

 Tsukishima refused to let anyone go on his back, despite Tanaka winking at him playfully. Yamaguchi ran alongside him in his own fox form, and Noya whizzed ahead. Unfortunate that Daichi was house bound, as he could have gotten there faster than any of them.

 The sight that befell them when they pushed open the church doors was the worst thing they could have imagined. Kageyama was badly bleeding, collapsed against a huge wooden cross, with a silver dagger in his chest.

 Immediately, the Angels began to move towards them. Oikawa shouted something to Hinata, which made him rip the dagger from Kageyama's chest.

 Suga screamed for him, and watched as Kageyama fell lifeless on the floor.

 'NO!' He reached into his bag and plucked out a little bottle filled with a green liquid, which he hurled at the nearest Angel. He caught the Angel in the chest and the bottle exploded, causing green vines to appear and wraps themselves around the Angel, making him fall to the floor, writhing.

 Then Oikawa was there, brandishing his knife. Suga ducked and ran into the centre of the room, desperately searching through the bag for something to use against Oikawa. He had just fished out a red bottle when Oikawa grabbed hold of his hair and pressed the blade against Suga's throat. He froze, bag and bottle in hand.

 'You're always getting in the way, Mr. Refreshing.'

 'How did you get to Kageyama.'

 'I got him to take off his silly little pendant.' The blade was pressed deeper into Suga's throat, making it sting. 'I'm going to take your head now.'

 'Like Hell you are.'

 Someone tackled Oikawa, slamming him hard against the church wall. Dust flew around them and the birds in the rafters squeaked angrily. Suga, completely baffled and rubbing his neck, turned to see who had saved him and found Daichi pinning Oikawa by his throat. He yelped, startled. 'Daichi!? How the-'

 'I used one of Saeko's umbrellas to shield me from the sun.' Daichi explained, and Suga noticed a pink and black umbrella lying on the floor near the entrance to the church.

 'It'd be a shame if I threw you outside then, wouldn't it?' Oikawa's eyes lit up and he grabbed Daichi and lifted him into the air, turning to hurl him through the stained-glass window. Suga ran forwards, lobbing the red bottle, which hit Oikawa square in the back. He dropped Daichi and staggered backwards.

 The potion inside had splattered across Oikawa's jacket and was starting to furiously bubble, letting off a lot of pink smoke. Oikawa wrenched off his jacket and threw it on the floor, but that didn't save the portion of his wings that had been hit. The feathers melted away and Oikawa let out a painful, angry shriek. He rounded on Suga, but Asahi jumped into the scene and knocked him to the floor, his long teeth bared. He was growling low in his throat.

 He didn't get long to keep Oikawa pinned, as another Angel had flung him away and was helping Oikawa up.

 'I don't know why you bother,' Oikawa jerked his head towards Kageyama's body. 'He's dead. There's nothing more you can do. I win.'

 'He can't be...' Suga stared at Kageyama, feeling defeat. He didn't want to believe it, but with the amount of blood pooling around Kageyama and the way his eyes stared glassily at the ceiling, he had to accept the fact that the boy was dead.

 'Everybody stop.' Oikawa ordered and all the Angel's froze. Tanaka took this opportunity to punch one of them in the face. The Angel teleported away, standing behind Oikawa. 'Was that really necessary?'

 'You bet it fucking was.' Tanaka growled and both Saeko and Noya nodded eagerly in agreement.

 'Go on. See for yourself, Mr. Refreshing. I'll hold my Angel's off while you clarify it.' He pointed at Kageyama and nodded to Suga.

 Trembling, Suga walked over to the stage, up the steps and avoided Hinata, who had just been stood there, watching the battle take place. He did nothing when Suga approached Kageyama and knelt down. He pressed his hand to Kageyama's throat, feeling a little squeamish about putting his hands in all the sticky blood, and tried to desperately feel for a pulse he knew he would not find.

 Up close, Kageyama looked even worse. His nose was bent out of shape, his bottom lip was split, there was blood everywhere and he had a huge wound in his stomach, along with three deep knife wounds in his upper torso. The metallic stench of blood was awful and Suga had to press his free hand over his mouth and nose.

 'Oh dear, your boyfriend is looking mighty hungry. You could lap it up like a dog if you like, Daichi.' Oikawa teased. Suga glanced over his shoulder at Daichi, who looked extremely pale. He hadn't had chance to feed yet and there was only for so long he could hold off before his vampire instincts took over and he bit the nearest person. 'It must smell really good, huh? Shame you can't drink it.'

 'I'm so sorry we couldn't protect you, Kageyama. I promised Hinata I would, we all promised him. We've failed both of you, I'm so sorry. You deserved so much better than this. I should have sent you away the first day you arrived, told you Hinata was in another town, miles from here. I wasn't good enough.' Slowly, Suga turned his head to look up at Hinata. 'Is there any of you left to see this?'

 'Go on, Shoyo, tell him what you think.' Oikawa jeered, laughing. Hinata blinked.

 'I think he might be dead.'

 'No, no, Shoyo, I meant tell him what you think about Kageyama- wait, what do you mean, might be? He _is_ dead.'

 Hinata pointed towards Kageyama. 'Then why is he still breathing?'

 'WHAT?' Oikawa stomped forwards, knocking Suga out of the way. Daichi yelled and appeared by his side, wrapping his arms around him to shield him. Suga tried to shake him off, to get to Kageyama before Oikawa, but he had little luck. Oikawa grabbed Kageyama by the front of his shirt and hoisted him to his feet, lifting him high enough so his toes dragged along the ground. 'No, he's definitely dead. I killed him. He's dead, he's not breathing.'

 'He was breathing a second ago.' Hinata said. He sounded so weird, so monotone and flat. Suga missed the days when he was the loudest person in the room. 'I saw it.'

  'It must have been a muscle spasm or something, because there's nothing. Don't freak me out like that Shoyo, jeez.'

 He let Kageyama drop.

 Only, Kageyama remained standing.

 'Huh?' Oikawa had jumped back in surprise, staring at Kageyama, who was definitely remaining on his feet. Suga and Daichi both let out a gasp. There was no way Kageyama should be stood up, even if he was still alive- not with those injuries. He'd lost so much blood he should be completely unconscious.

 'What's going on?' One of the Angel's asked, clearly confused. They were all looking around at each other. Iwaizumi was the only one who looked irritated by the situation.

 'I told you it was a bad idea, Oikawa. You should have listened to me.'

 Oikawa turned to look at him, pulling an apologetic face. 'Guess so. Ah dear, I really didn't want to come to this.'

 Tsukishima walked forwards, now back in his human form. He stood by Oikawa side, sighing. 'I warned you about this.'

 'Oh, not you too, glasses.' Oikawa turned and strode the length of the room, going to grab his dagger that he'd dropped earlier when Daichi had tackled him.

 'Is anyone going to explain what the fuck is going on? How is he standing? Is he a fucking zombie? I'm not gonna be the one to chop off his head, I tell 'ya now, although, let's do it before he starts biting all of us, 'kay?' Tanaka called to no one in particular. Tsukishima rolled his eyes.

 'Are you really that moronic?'

 'I've done something a bit silly,' Oikawa grinned, picking up his Angel blade. He laughed a little, but it seemed forced. 'I apologise in advance to all of you, but I'm going to have to leave you to deal with it now. Hey, look on the bright side, it makes things a little more interesting, don't you agree, Iwa?'

 'No.'

 'We should go, before-'

 Kageyama's head had shot up. It had been lolling on his shoulder before. Even Tsukishima jumped back, wary.

 He had no expression on his face. More blood trickled from his broken nose and down his neck, mixing with the stain already on his shirt.

 Suga's mouth fell open.

 'Oh no...'

 They'd spent so long trying to keep this hidden from Kageyama, to keep him safe, but everything they'd worked for was ruined. They were in serious trouble now.

 Oikawa had woken him.

 With the brightest, glowing blue eyes, Kageyama turned his head incredibly slowly and let his gaze fall upon Hinata, who tensed.

 A horrible, cracking noise followed and huge white-and-blue wings broke through the skin on Kageyama's back, unfolding themselves out. They were  slight bigger than Hinata's, but smaller than Oikawa's or the other Angel's.

 'Well, we're fucked.' Tanaka let out a low whistle.

 'Bye, bye.' Oikawa chuckled and all the Angel's teleported away. Hinata remained, unable to teleport. He flexed his clawed hands, eyes narrowed.

 And then Kageyama attacked him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 
> 
> I was too excited to wait so I wrote the next chapter


	24. Flight or Fight

Both Daichi and Suga dived for cover when Kageyama slammed Hinata to the floor, making the wood crack in several places.

 When he'd moved forwards to attack, Hinata had taken into the air, but wasn't fast enough. Kageyama had grabbed hold of either black wing and swung him down with unstoppable force. What followed was an awful snapping sound, like bones breaking, and when Hinata got up again, his neck was bent at an odd angle.

 Without even blinking, Hinata reached up and snapped his head back into place with a sickening crunch. He stood still, facing Kageyama, his claws flexing. Kageyama, still dripping blood everywhere, remained still for a couple of seconds, before throwing himself at Hinata once more, driving his fist into the base of his stomach.

 As Kageyama was thrown at the wall, he hit one of the stained-glass windows and sent a shower of coloured shards of glass down upon both Daichi and Suga. Immediately, as the sunlight caught Daichi's skin, he let out a shriek and his skin began to smoke. Suga pushed him into the shadows, dodging quickly as Hinata came crashing down mere inches from him.

 'They're going to kill each other!' Noya cried, flying over to Daichi, who had shuffled into the farthest corner, away from any possible sunlight. 'We've got to do something!'

 'It's too risky,' Tsukishima had joined them, avoiding the ongoing battle in the middle of the room. There wasn't enough space for either of the boys to properly fly in here, so they were grounded and using hands and feet to swipe at the other. It seemed Hinata had more of an advantage, being able to actually cut Kageyama, but this wasn't slowing him down at all. His strength was ten times that of Hinata's, and he hadn't even used any of his magic yet. 'He's recognised Hinata as a threat and the Angel part of him is fighting back. If we try to stop him, he'll attack us too.'

 'Can't we knock him out again?' The Tanaka siblings had hurried over, along with Asahi, who was petrified. Tsukishima shook his head, his eyes fixed on Yamaguchi, who was stood by the entrance to the church, too scared to make his way over to the others.

 'Not now his Angel side has activated. I warned Oikawa about this when I learned he was after Kageyama. I said if he tried to kill him, the Angel in him would awaken and take charge, but Oikawa didn't believe me, he thought as long as he killed Kageyama whilst he was still human, he would be fine. I can't be sure if the human part of him is still alive or not, but if he is, he's given up all control. He won't recognise any of us.'

 'So, what? We're supposed to just let them slaughter each other?' Saeko grimaced, tugging Tanaka out of the way when one of Kageyama's wings came slicing past. Being hit with one of those could easily break several bones.

 Everyone turned to watch as Hinata sent a kick into Kageyama's torso. He flew back, crashing against the wall, and the baby crows in the nest toppled out, screeching. Asahi ran to catch them and Tsukishima rolled his eyes.

 'Oh dear, this doesn't look good.'

 A cat had jumped through the open window, it's tail held high. It dropped down in front of the group, it's yellow eyes fixated on the little squeaking birds in Asahi's grip. Tsukishima's face darkened. 'You have no business here, Kenma.'

 He was clearly still quite sore about losing to Kenma in their last encounter.

 'Yeah!' Tanaka growled. 'If you hadn't started on Kageyama, Tsukishima wouldn't have burnt down the inn and we'd all be safe.'

 He went to stomp over, as though ready to kick the cat, but Daichi grabbed his wrist. 'Stop it. He could be here to help.'

 'It's a real pain.' Kenma sighed, transforming into his human self. His cat-eyes followed Kageyama and Hinata, who were both covered in so much blood it was difficult to work out where their wounds were located. One of Hinata's eyes was sealed shut. 'Kageyama is currently only using his enhanced strength to fight, you should leave before he uses any magic. It could blow this whole place up, and it'd be bad for Daichi to get caught while the sun is still in the sky.'

 'What do you care?' Noya glared at him, hovering over Asahi's head. 'Just leave, go back to your own dimension.'

 'Unfortunately I can't.' Kenma let out a long breath and seated himself on the floor, legs crossed. He didn't even move when a piece of broken pew came flying at him, making everyone but Tsukishima shriek. It passed straight through him and shattered against the church wall. 'Oikawa is mad that I betray him, so he's sealed up the entrance back to my dimension. He's probably planning on killing me. I really wish people would just leave me alone, I'm tired of doing magic.'

 'Don't worry,' Daichi said, standing up. 'We won't let Oikawa get to you. Once Kuroo returns, he should be able to get you home again.'

 'Hmm. Possibly.' Kenma shrugged. 'Don't get me wrong, I appreciate you want to help me, but I don't need it. Now that I'm out, Oikawa can't re-summon me, and I can just hide in someone's mind if he's around. I might just go travelling. I've never seen much of this world.'

 'That's great,' Tsukishima said sarcastically, ducking as another pew came flying over. Kageyama had started lobbing them at Hinata. 'But that isn't really helping this situation is it. Either use your power to get into their heads and stop them, or leave.'

 Groaning, Kenma got to his feet and stretched his arms above his head. 'I won't be able to get into Kageyama's mind now his Angel side has taken over. It'll just kick me straight back out and he'd probably see me as a threat and try to kill me. I don't really fancy that. I should be able to snap Shoyo out of whatever trance Oikawa has put him in though.'

 'You can?!' Tanaka jumped forwards, going to grab Kenma and shake him, but he found himself grasping at thin air. Kenma had passed through him and was facing the others. Tanaka span round. 'Why didn't you to do that to begin with?!'

 'I didn't want to get involved,' Kenma said bluntly. 'I couldn't get near to him with Oikawa around, anyway. If someone can distract Kageyama, I'll sort out Shoyo.'

 Noya zipped round in circles in air, looking quite excited. 'Leave it to me! I can use hypnotism on Kageyama!'

 Trying to break the pair up was a bit tricky. It ended up that Asahi- being the strongest- had to grab either of Kageyama's arms and pin them behind his back, whilst trying to avoid getting hit in the face by one of his giant white wings. Kageyama immediately began fighting back, and Daichi and Tsukishima ran over to help, while Suga used the umbrella to keep Daichi shielded from any patches of sunlight they got dragged into.

 Swinging a small silver pendant in front of Kageyama's face, Noya started chanting stuff under his breath and the pendant started to glow white around the edges. While this was going on, Kenma had simply walked over to Hinata, grabbed hold his head before Hinata could attack him and disappeared. Hinata fell limp, his arms swinging by his side, and he looked completely zoned-out.

 'Noya, I don't think this is working!' Asahi cried, his teeth clenched. All three of the guys holding onto Kageyama had their feet planted firmly on the ground and were straining, trying to keep him held back. He was starting to drag them. 'He's too strong!'

 'You're breaking my concentration!' Noya snapped, trying to get the momentum of the pendant going again. However, at that very moment, one of Kageyama's arms slipped out of Tsukishima's grasp and swung upwards, grabbing hold of Noya's ankle. With the speed of a bullet, Noya was hurtled across the room and sent crashing through a window, dropping out of sight.

 Both Daichi and Asahi screamed for him and let go of Kageyama, who turned, knocking them off both of their feet with his wings. He knelt down and picked up Daichi by the front of his shirt, lifting him up and holding him up into a beam of sunlight. Suga screamed and threw a blue bottle at Kageyama's feet, which exploded, engulfing him a cloud of smoke, making him drop Daichi. Suga hurried over to drag him out of the way and get him into the shadows. His skin was blistering.

 'Drink my blood, you need to heal.' Suga offered him his neck, but Daichi pushed him away, looking troubled.

 'No, I haven't eaten yet. I don't know if I could restrain myself.'

 'But you-'

 'Not yet, Suga. I'll be fine. Check on Noya, he might be hurt-'

 Suga didn't need to check on Noya. He came zooming in through the window, a little scratched up but fine, and aimed a flying kick into the side of Kageyama's head. 'Throw me out the window, you little-'

 Kageyama had raised his hand and a sharp flash of bright blue light sent Noya spinning through the air. He whacked his head on a low-hanging beam and cursed loudly. He flew up higher, dropping onto the beam, rubbing at his head. 'I think he's figured out how to use his Angel power, you guys. Shit, that stings.'

 'Are you alright, Noya?' Suga called up to him. Noya gave him a thumbs up.

 Asahi was blocking Kageyama's path to Hinata now. The pair of them had locked grasp and were wrestling against the other. Tsukishima turned to Suga, who was trying to stop Daichi from going over to help. 'You need to make an Angel trap, now. If we can push him in it, we can keep him there until we figure out what to do next.'

 Immediately, Suga dived for his rucksack and rifled through it. He found what he was looking for- some white chalk, and began drawing a circle on the stage floor. 'Just don't let him get near to Hinata while I'm drawing this out!'

 There was a thumping noise. Kageyama had overpowered Asahi and knocked him to the floor. He raised his foot and went to smash down on Asahi's face, but the Tanaka siblings appeared on either side of him, kneeing him in the stomach. He winced, winded, and staggered away.

 The two siblings went to hit him again, but more of that blue light appeared in his hands and he sent them both flying backwards. They crashed into each other as they fell, landing in a heap.

 'Are you alright Ryuu?!' Noya shouted and Tanaka gave a dizzy shout back. He gritted his teeth and flew down towards Kageyama. 'Snap out of it Kags! We're your friends, we're not trying to hurt y-'

 Noya was cut off.

 Kageyama had grabbed hold him. One hand had clamped itself around Noya's neck, cutting off his air supply, and while Noya was trying to wrench himself free, his little legs dangling, Kageyama had used his free hand to grab hold of both of Noya's wings and wrench them from his back.

 The scream that filled the church was the worst sound Suga had ever heard. As Noya dropped, blood spurting everywhere, Asahi rolled over and caught him. He was writhing in pain, his face white as a sheet.

 Without a  care in the world, Kageyama dropped the ripped wings at his feet and moved towards Hinata, who was still stood motionless.

 'You've got to heal him, Suga!' Asahi was crying, trying to calm Noya down, who was in hysterics. There was so much blood covering Asahi's hands and legs. 'He's going to die!'

 'Shit.' Suga dropped the chalk and hurried over, dragging his rucksack with him. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had taken over blocking Kageyama, both in fox form, and Asahi had gotten Noya away from him, lying him face down on an unbroken pew. There was a huge hole in Noya's back where his wings had once been.

 'There's a healing potion in here somewhere, I saw it, hold on, hold on, hang in there Noya.' Suga rummaged through the bag, before giving a little 'aha!' and pulling out a small clear bottle. He tipped the contents onto Noya's wound, which began to hiss. He screeched and Asahi had to hold him down. The flesh began to bubble and eventually the whole thing scarred over.

 Noya fell still. Asahi tried to make him sit up but he smacked him away. He kept his head pressed to the wood, breathing hard. When he spoke, he addressed Suga. 'My wings won't grow back, will they?'

 Suga was trying to hold back his tears. 'I'm so sorry, Noya. I wish I could do something to help-'

 'Forget it.' He sat up. He was shaking and ghostly pale. Asahi was in tears. Noya glared over at Kageyama, his face distorted in rage. 'We should just kill him.'

 'Noya, no! We'll do something about your wings, we will-' Asahi tried to speak, but Noya shut him down immediately.

 'There's nothing you can do now. The human part of him is gone and he's going to kill Hinata and then kill the rest of us. He doesn't care! He's better off dead!' He was doing his best to not cry, but the pain in his eyes was obvious. He stared at his broken, raggedy wings, and, as if to rub salt into the wound, Kageyama stepped on them whilst fighting against Tsukishima. 'Get that trap done, Suga, and we'll push him in it.'

 'Yu-' Tanaka had made his way over, looking sympathetic. Noya wouldn't look him in the eye.

 'Don't. I don't need to hear it. Just... leave me alone.' Noya got to his feet. He was unsteady, but he kept his balance. He pushed past both Asahi and Tanaka and stomped out of the church, disappearing from sight. Asahi let out a small sob.

 'You can fix his wings, can't you, Suga? There has to be a way. We can reattach them-' Tanaka said frantically, but stopped speaking when Suga shook his head.

 'Fairies and pixies only have one set of wings. If they're pulled out, they... they basically become mortal.' Suga rubbed furiously at his eyes. Daichi was stood over by the stage, still in the shadows, looking torn. Saeko had risked grabbing Noya's wings when Kageyama was out of the way, but they were limp and papery in her hands. 'Noya is going to age and die like a normal human now.'

 Both Tanaka and Asahi stared at him in disbelief. Saeko dropped the wings and clenched her fists, turning to the two boys, looking determined. 'Don't think about it. We won't let it happen. There has to be some magic we can do to prevent that from happening.'

 'I could bite him...' Asahi suggested. 'Or Daichi?'

 'Right now,' Suga grabbed Tanaka and wrenched him out of the way as Tsukishima came hurtling past them. Yamaguchi had been knocked out cold and was lying by the side of the church, still in his fox form. 'We have bigger things to deal with. We can talk to Noya about his options later. Let him deal with this on his own for the time being. I need to get that trap finished!'

 Tsukishima was getting to his feet. He was a human again and had blood dripping down his forehead. The three of them hurried over to him, but he held up a hand to keep them back and nodded towards Kageyama, who had marched towards Hinata again.

 'Stop him.'

 Nodding, Asahi changed into his wolf form and pounced at Kageyama, knocking him off of his feet. They ended up rolling around on the floor, but Kageyama's whole body lit up and Asahi gave a yelp and was tossed aside.

 Before any of them could stop him, Kageyama had reached Hinata and booted him in the stomach. Falling to the floor, Hinata hit his head against the wood and the fire in his eyes dimmed. He blinked a couple of times, before turning his head to stare up at Kageyama. 'Tobio?'

 Everyone froze.

 'Did he just say Tobio?' Daichi asked, trying to edge as close as possible. 'Hinata, is that you?!'

 'Daichi? I- Ow, everything hurts. What's going on? What's happening? Tobio, why are you here-'

 'It's him, shit!' Tanaka tried to run forwards, but Kageyama raised a hand and blasted him backwards without even looking over at him. He'd managed to get the hang of his Angel magic.

 'No, no!' Hinata was beside himself. He tried to get to his feet, but had little luck. 'You let him activate! This was never meant to happen! Tobio, please, it's me, it's Shoyo! Snap yourself out of it.'

 'Shoyo, move away from him.' Kenma had reappeared and was trying to help Hinata to his feet, but was tossed aside by Kageyama like a ragdoll. He grabbed hold of Hinata, knocking him to the ground, and he ripped out a handful of black feathers from Hinata's wings, making him scream.

 'Stop it, Kageyama! Can't you see you're hurting him! He's your boyfriend!' Saeko was shouting, but none of her words meant anything to Kageyama anymore. He pulled out yet more feathers, and only stopped once Asahi took him off his feet again.

 Tsukishima bounded forwards as a Kitsune and helped Asahi pin Kageyama down. Saeko and Tanaka ran forwards to hold down his feet.

 'We can't keep this up for very long, Suga!' Tsukishima cried. Suga was scribbling frantically.

 He dropped the chalk.

 'It's done! Get him over here!'

 With combined effort, they physically dragged Kageyama over to the stage, but ended up dropping him in advance when he used his Angel magic again. The four of them were flung across the room and all crashed into the walls, sliding down. None of them got back up again.

 Kenma, who had been trying to calm down Hinata, who was confused, hurt and bleeding, got to his feet and moved forwards. Kageyama advanced towards him, but Kenma disappeared. Angry, Kageyama spun round and spotted Kenma now stood on the stage.

 'Come on then. I'm tired of waiting.' Kenma said.

 It was clear that in this state of mind, Kageyama didn't register much of his surroundings or thought any of his actions through properly. He was only seeing what was in front of him, what he thought was a threat and needed to kill, so when he dived at Kenma, he found himself falling straight into Suga's Angel trap, which was activated when Suga slammed his hands down onto the edge of the symbol.

 Shrieking and twisting, Kageyama tried to fight his way out, but was stuck.

 'What do we do now?' Daichi called over the noise Kageyama was making. Over by the door, Kenma was helping Hinata to his feet. He collapsed against Kenma's shoulder.

 'I'll get Shoyo back to your safe house.'

 He and Hinata vanished.

 'You sure he can't escape from this?' Daichi asked and Suga nodded.

 'Not unless someone breaks the seal.'

 'This would be the worst time for Oikawa to turn up, then.'

 'Don't jinx it!' Suga snapped at him, looking at his collapsed friends. 'We need to get everyone back to Saeko's. Now Kageyama's power has activated, he won't be able to get in anymore, not with my Angel seals in place. I'll seal this church off, so Oikawa can't get back inside.'

 'So, we just leave him here?'

 'Until we figure out what to do, yes. I don't have any other options.'

  They turned to watch Kageyama, who was no longer moving, but his mouth was still open, shrieking, and his whole body was glowing violently. Daichi pulled a face. 'You sure it can hold him?'

 'Yes. I've used it on Angel's more powerful than him before.'

 'I knew this was going to happen the first day he arrived here.' Daichi sighed. 'We should have sent him straight home.'

 'Oikawa would have gone after him. He's spent his life looking for Malpas's son. I tried to warn Malpas, years ago, that getting involved with a human was a bad idea. The other Angel's were furious when they heard about the pregnancy.'

 'Yeah, I remember.' Daichi groaned and rubbed his eyes. He turned to look out one of the broken windows. 'I'd run the others home, but it's still too light out. Maybe you should work on getting the seals up around the church and we can wait it out until dark. Perhaps using up all this energy will tire Kageyama out.'

 A moan made them turn to look. Tsukishima was getting up. He cracked his spine and made his way to the front, his head bent. There was so much blood covering the floor that he slipped a little.

 When he got to the edge of the seal, he glared up at Kageyama for a moment, before stepping straight over, much to Suga's objection. The seal didn't hurt Tsukishima or limit his movements. He grabbed hold of Kageyama's head and twisted violently. A snapping noise followed and Kageyama crumpled to the floor.

 Both Daichi and Suga let out a cry but Tsukishima waved them down, jumping out of the seal.

 'He's fine, his Angel side will heal him. We need to get him back to Saeko's house and lock him down with sealed straps. I need to attend to Yamaguchi.'

 'How are we supposed to move him? Won't Oikawa come running when he sees that Kageyama's currently knocked out?'

 Tsukishima sighed and stomped back up the steps. Once again, he entered the seal and picked up Kageyama, throwing him over his shoulder. 'I'll take him then. You two deal with this lot.'

 Transforming into a Kitsune, Tsukishima clamped his jaw securely around Kageyama (Daichi and Suga made sure his wings were folded against his back) and he set off at incredibly fast pace, disappearing from the church.

 Suga sighed and looked around at the others. He rolled up his sleeve and grabbed his rucksack.

 'I'd better get to work then.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is wondering, Malpas is the name of a fallen angel who resembled a crow.   
> I don't remember what site I found that on but its somewhere.


	25. The Truth

Daichi had finally joined up with the group again.

 He had been unable to leave the church because of the sun, so all the others had taken off without him, although they had been hesitant to leave him behind. He had insisted they go ahead and he'd be fine, which had caused a row with Suga who was determined to stay with him.

 'You need to look after Kageyama and Hinata. They're going to need medical help. I don't know how much blood Kageyama must have lost.' Daichi's eyes had scanned the church floor, which was shiny with red sticky blood.

 The scent of blood had made his eyes turn crimson and his fangs had protruded from his gums, but he couldn't resist tasting even a drop of the spilt blood, as even thought the scent of Kageyama's blood was human, he knew the Angel blood mixed in would kill him. He'd pushed Suga away from him when he'd tried to hug Daichi, scared that he wouldn't be able to control himself and bite Suga. 'Oikawa won't come back here. He'll know Kageyama is back at Saeko's by now. I'll be fine. I can handle this. Go.'

 It was nearing eight in the evening when Daichi had appeared in Saeko's living room. He looked tired and collapsed onto the sofa next to Suga, who was crushing herbs in a little grinding pot, humming under his breath. The others were all slumped in the living room too, tired and dazed after a long day. Noya hadn't returned yet and, after much nagging from Suga, Tsukishima had gone out to look for him.

 Asahi was constantly fretting about it, wondering when he'd return and kept glancing hopefully at the door, knotting his hands together. He'd been somewhat disappointed when Daichi had entered, not that he wasn't glad to see him.

 'Any news?' Daichi asked, rubbing his eyes. His stomach gave a loud rumble and he looked embarrassed. 'Ah, sorry, being stuck in that church was a nightmare. Nobody cut themselves please, I don't think I could take the smell of more blood.'

 'Kageyama's body has healed itself, but he's still incredibly weak from the blood loss. I've set up a blood transfusion-'

 'Doesn't he need Angel's blood?' Daichi frowned and Suga shook his head.

 'Since he's half human, he can receive human blood too. I had Kenma teleport to the hospital in Sunshine Bay and take some. He's upstairs keeping an eye on Hinata. Whatever Oikawa did to him has completely gone, he's back to his old self now and he's starting to remember everything that he did. He hasn't taken it very well at all, he was in hysterics for a while. He kept wanting to see Kageyama but we thought it better to lock him out of Saeko's bedroom for the time being. We have no idea what will happen with Kageyama wakes up again.'

 'You've strapped him down?'

 'Yeah, with Angel seals so he won't be able to get up again or use magic when he does wake up. I don't need him destroying Saeko's house.'

 'Ryuu is doing a decent job of that already.' Saeko said bitterly, glaring at her younger brother. He was currently trying to glue a chair leg back together with little luck and had managed to get his index finger and thumb stuck to each other. He didn't look very focused on his task and, like Asahi, kept shooting looks at the front door.

 'I don't really understand,' Yamaguchi said quietly. He was holding an ice pack to his head and his face looked a tad bruised. The fingers on his left hand were bandaged together and held with a splint. 'I know Kageyama is a Nephilim, but how did his powers activate? I thought they were dormant?'

 'You're going to have to explain the full story to me,' Saeko added. 'I wasn't around when this ... Malpas? guy was in Sunshine Harbour. So, he was an Angel? Why wasn't he like Oikawa's bunch- ya' know, a complete dickhead?'

 Suga gave a small smile, as though remembering a fond memory. 'Malpas is a fallen Angel. He was obsessed with humanity, and the God of Creation hated it. Any Angel that fell in love with humanity was cast out, believed to be just as wicked as them. He was actually a traveller, like I told Kageyama, he wanted to see everything humanity had to offer.'

 'Then why did he end up in Sunshine Harbour? There are no humans here.'

 'I think he just wanted a place where he could be himself. Keeping your wings hidden for a long period of time can be really uncomfortable and I guess he just missed being around people of his own kind- sort of. He got along with our kind better than Angels. Of course, Oikawa was furious to hear he was in town and they ended up in a lot of fights.'

 'I don't even get why Oikawa spends time here? He doesn't get along with anyone except his Angel friends, so why bother hanging around? Why not stay in his own realm?' Saeko questioned. Suga chewed his lip before he responded.

 'I think he likes the power. He has to constantly obey the God of Creation and can't step out of line, here, everyone is scared of him. We're all much weaker than he is, apart from maybe Tsukishima, and he gets a kick out of that. He can hurt people here, he's forbidden from injuring other Angels. I'm not sure what intentions he had for Malpas...'

 'You think Oikawa wanted to kill him?' Tanaka asked.

 Suga shrugged. 'I never really knew and Al didn't either. He always said Oikawa was hesitant, I think it was because he didn't want to kill one of his own kind, even if he didn't view him as an Angel anymore now that he had fallen.'

 'But isn't Kageyama one of his own kind?' Yamaguchi interjected.

 'Technically, no. He has Angel blood in him, but he was grown and born from a human mother. He's more human than Angel, which is why he could enter the inn even when I had my seals in place, plus his Angel side was completely dormant. I knew who he was the moment he stepped through the coffee shop door, he looks so much like his father.'

 'It's the eyes.' Daichi said.  'When I first saw him, I thought it was Malpas. I was furious that he had returned to the town. He swore he'd never come back here and put anyone's life in danger again.'

 'When did he leave? Where did he go?' Saeko asked. Suga pulled a face.

 'I don't know where he is now. I haven't heard from him in nineteen years. He told me in secret about falling in love with a human and I warned him about the risk of it, and he said that they didn't plan for children. She knew what he was. I guess things just happen and it wasn't long before the news had spread round town that a Nephilim was going to be born. Al was so torn about it, because he was scared for his unborn child and the threat that awaited him upon his arrival into the world, but he was also so thrilled. I think he would have given anything to have been able to have lead a normal human life and raise his son, but Oikawa refused to allow a Nephilim to exist. Kageyama's mother went into hiding and Al disappeared.'

 'He couldn't have hidden with her?'

 'It was safer for them to part. Oikawa has been searching for the past eighteen years.'

 'Did Hinata know about it?' Yamaguchi asked.

 'It was a coincidence that the two of them met. Hinata knew about Malpas and the baby, and he knew who Kageyama was the moment he saw him and I guess he felt it was his duty to protect him, especially because Hinata didn't want Oikawa hurting anyone else, not if he could help it. I don't think he'd expected he'd fall in love with him, though.'

 'Hinata left because of his parent's death, yeah?' Saeko said.

 'Yeah, Oikawa's original intention was to just get to Natsu, and use the two of them to start some ridiculous war against humanity. Natsu's mother remained behind to fight Oikawa, being the strongest in the family, while their father fled the children to the edge of the town. He went to retrieve his wife but neither of them came back. Hinata and Natsu both knew exactly what had happened and vanished, they haven't even seen their parents graves. There are no bodies there, unfortunately, Oikawa disposed of them. I don't even know how he can think half angel, half demon hybrids are more acceptable than angel-human hybrids, but-'

 'He wasn't going to let any of them survive.' Tsukishima had just entered the room, hands dug his pockets. Everyone looked at him eagerly, hoping to see Noya with him, but he was alone. 'Stop staring at me. Noya is fine, he just wants some time to himself. He'll come back when he's ready. As for Oikawa, he had no intention of letting any hybrid children he created live after they'd fulfilled their purpose. He would have killed them all without a single afterthought.'

 'That's messed up!' Saeko exclaimed. 'You want a drink or anything, Tsukki?'

 'No, I'm fine. Thanks. And don't call me that.' He sat on the armchair next to Yamaguchi. 'I can't sense Oikawa or his Angel friends anywhere in town. I don't know where they've gone, but it troubles me. It makes no sense for them to just leave the town.'

 'Maybe they're trying to lure us into a false sense of security?' Daichi suggested but Tsukishima shook his head.

 'I don't think so. I think they're up to something.'

 'Like what?'

 Tsukishima narrowed his eyes, looking irritated. 'I don't know.'

 'That's a first for you, four-eyes.' Tanaka grinned. Tsukishima sighed but didn't retaliate.

 'Couldn't you sense Natsu when Oikawa brought her to town?' Saeko asked Tsukishima. He shook his head.

 'No, they hid her deep in the forest, out of my radar. The same place they hid Suga when Oikawa took him. There's too much magical interference in the forest, it makes it almost impossible for me to locate anyone in there.'

 'How do you know the Angel's aren't in the forest then?'

 'It's unlikely. They've been hovering around town ever since Kageyama got here, so why would they change their tune now? And before you say anything, it has nothing to do with them hiding from Kageyama now he's an Angel. They're still much stronger than him, the only reason Oikawa left the church earlier was because he was hoping Kageyama would kill us all off.'

 'I don't even get how he found out about Kageyama.' Saeko pouted.

 'He saw Hinata's memories when he was messing around with his brain.' Suga explained. 'He must have been thrilled to find him. It was just unlucky. He learnt about the feather pendant from Hinata's head and knew that was the best way to get Kageyama to come to Sunshine Harbour. When Hinata came looking for Natsu, he told me to look after Kageyama if he ever turned up in town. He didn't think it was likely, but I think he worried that Kageyama's mother might spill the beans and send him there. He was hoping he'd be able to get in and out and back to Angel's Haven before Kageyama noticed him missing.'

 'So what was it that caused him to activate? You'd have thought an Angel blade to the heart would have killed him.'

 'It didn't go in deep enough.' Tsukishima cut across Yamaguchi. 'The shock and blood-loss made Kageyama's human side switch off and his Angel side took over in order to try to keep his body alive. I don't know enough about Angels, or Nephilims, to know if any human part of Kageyama is still alive.'

 'I feel so bad for Noya,' Saeko said sadly and everyone looked awkward. 'He didn't deserve that...'

 'Although I'm sure Noya will be very upset about losing his Pixie magic, we're not going to let him die like a mortal. We'll give him the option of becoming something else, if he wants. He's got a choice between a werewolf and a vampire.'

 'I can't picture Noya as a vampire.' Tanaka snorted. 'Do you think Asahi would actually be able to bite him? Will we have to wait for a full-moon when you're _sort of_ scary?'

 'Oh my God, will he be a tiny werewolf? That would be so cute.' Saeko grinned.

 'He might not want that,' Asahi waved his hands desperately, trying to stop them talking. 'And I'd never turn him unless he honestly wanted it. I'd hate to inflict anyone else with this curse.'

 'Ha! A curse! You can transform into a powerful wolf any time you want, and you're hardly ripping out innocent people's throats during the full-moon,' Tanaka laughed, smacking Asahi on the back. 'You just wreck loads of trash cans in town and piss off the residents.'

 A sudden meow made the group jump. Kenma came strutting into the room in cat form and leapt onto Suga's knee and began clawing at his leg.

 'Ow! Ow! What is it, Kenma?'

 He brushed the cat off of him and Kenma leapt to the floor and swished his tail in annoyance.

 'Tobio is awake. I let him out of his restraints.'

 'You did what?!' Everyone jumped to their feet.

 'He's fine. His human side is back. He wants answers.'

 'That's still no reason to undo the restraints!' Suga cried and Tsukishima spun round. Everyone copied him.

 Kageyama was stood in the doorway, looking very battered and bruised, covered in bandages. His wings were gone. He fell against the doorframe, gathering his breath. 'Someone had better explain to me what the fuck happened.'

 'Don't you remember anything?' Suga said, looking wary. No one dared approach Kageyama, as though he was a ticking time bomb ready to go off any moment.

 'I remember dying.' Kageyama screwed up his face and wobbled. He was too weak to be out of bed but that wasn't stopping him. 'Everything hurt, and then it didn't. There was a blue light and that's it. What happened?'

 'I think, for now, you should return to bed.' Suga dared to step over to him and put a supportive arm around him, leading him back to the stairs. 'I will promise to explain everything to you later, but try and get some more sleep until your body is healed. You lost a lot of blood.'

 'No, I want to know now. Enough hiding things from me.' He wheezed, trying to wrench himself from Suga's grasp. He ended up toppling over. Suga tried to heave him to his feet, but he was a dead weight. Asahi came over to help.

 Now that Kageyama no longer had Hinata's feather pendant to protect him, they could touch him without getting burnt.

 'You're concussed, you're not going to remember anything we tell you anyway. You need to rest.' Suga was firm. He had his hands placed on Kageyama's shoulders. Asahi lingered to the side, just in case he had to catch Kageyama if he fell again. 'Once you've slept, you can speak with Hinata-'

 At these words, Kageyama's head shot up. His eyes were wide. Suga regretted mentioning Hinata's name. 'What did you say?'

 'Ah, Suga, maybe it's better we don't tell him-' Tsukishima tried to speak but Kageyama cut him off, raising his voice.

 'Is Shoyo here?'

 There was a moment of silence before Suga sighed and said, 'Yes.'

 Kageyama went to move instantly, stumbling over his own feet. Suga and Asahi grabbed an arm each to keep him upright and to stop him from speeding off.

 'I don't think it's good that you see him right now, Kageyama.' Suga said.

 'No, let me go! I need to speak with him. Is he hurt? Did Oikawa hurt him? Is he him, or is he still a monster?'

 'I fixed his head.' Kenma yawned. He was human looking. 'He remembers everything that happened. He's not in a good state, it's probably better you let him recover. You'd probably upset him if you let him hear you calling him a monster.'

 'Get off me!' Kageyama shouted, wrestling against the two guys holding him. 'I need to speak with him. Shoyo! Shoyo!'

 'Stop shouting!' Daichi hissed, coming over to help restrain Kageyama.

 A door upstairs banged. There were quick footsteps and Shoyo Hinata appeared at the top of the stairs. At the sight of Kageyama he froze, just staring. A hand went to his mouth and tears rolled down his cheeks.

 Seeing Hinata's crumpled, broken wings and swollen, bruised face and body, made Kageyama slump in Suga's arms. He put his hands to his head and started babbling words they couldn't quite understand.

 'What's going on?' Yamaguchi looked scared.

 'He's remembering what happened.' Kenma said it as casually as if he were talking about the weather. 'The sight of Shoyo's wings must have triggered his memory.'

 'You did this on purpose, didn't you,' Tanaka raised a fist and made towards Kenma but Daichi pushed him back.

 'Stop it. No fighting, we don't have time for it. Will Kageyama be alright? Is he going to freak out and go Angel on us again?'

 Suga was trying to calm Kageyama down. It seemed he was having another panic attack. 'Breathe, Kageyama, focus on your breathing.'

  Hysterically crying and screaming, Kageyama had to be helped to the floor and they got him to put his head between his knees.

 Upstairs, Natsu had come to see what the noise was about and clung to her brother's arm, looking terrified. Hinata hadn't dared come down the stairs. Perhaps he was scared of Kageyama in this state and was worried that he might cause him further damage. Suga suspected he had never seen Kageyama in such a state before and didn't know how to handle it.

 'He's freaking out because he hurt Shoyo, and Yu, and everyone else.' Kenma said. Hinata came thundering down the stairs, trying to get to Kageyama, desperately wanting to help him, but Daichi grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back.

 'It's too dangerous for you to go near him. We don't know if his Angel powers will come back or not.'

 'Daichi, let go, I need to help him-' Hinata tried to wriggle free but in his current state he was no match for Daichi, even if Daichi was weakened by his hunger. 'Please.'

 'His eyes are glowing!' Tanaka shouted and everyone leapt away from Kageyama, except Suga, who was trying to get him to calm down.

 The room began to shake and Saeko shrieked and grabbed hold of an expensive looking vase on a cabinet. Several photo frames clattered to the floor and smashed. The broken shards of glass then began to float, surrounded by a blue aura and flung themselves at Suga.

 Daichi jumped in the way and the glass cut into his chest. He winced but the glass fell out and his wounds healed instantly.

 'Get away from him Suga, his Angel side must see you as a threat!' Daichi took hold of Suga's wrist and tried to wrench him to his feet, but Suga was fighting back.

 'I've got to do something!'

 'Oh, for Heaven's sake,' Tsukishima sighed, stepping forwards. He knocked Suga out of the way, bent down and snapped Kageyama's neck again. His body crumpled to the floor, his eyes shut and the room stopped shaking at once. 'You have to remember that his body is still human, so snapping his neck will, sort of, kill him. Stop panicking Hinata, you're making too much noise. He'll be fine, his Nephilim side will heal the broken bone. He'll probably just have a sore neck when he wakes up.'

 'This is your fault, you stupid furball,' Tanaka bared his teeth at Kenma, who was looking down at his shoes. 'You shouldn't have untied him! Let me kick him, at least once, Daichi.'

 'Tanaka, take Kageyama back upstairs and redo the straps. Stay with him until someone else comes up. Kenma, I really appreciate everything you've done for us when you've not been obligated to, but please don't do something so risky again.'

 'If you keep Tobio strapped down and his power sealed, he's never going to learn to control it when his temper rises. This will keep happening over and over, but what do I know?' Kenma shrugged and walked back into the living room, stopping briefly to knock a half-filled mug of green tea off of the coffe table, making Saeko shout at him. Was he really that much like a cat or was he just being a jerk?

 'What did you do that for?!' She tried to stomp over, her hand raised to slap, but Asahi jumped in front to block her path. Her hand froze inches from Asahi's face but she lowered it, glaring at him. 'I'll get you later, you little rat.'

 'I just wanted to see what would happen.' Kenma lifted one shoulder carelessly, too lazy to shrug properly, and began examining Saeko's X-Box One underneath the television. He picked up the controller. 'Keep him locked up forever, it doesn't concern me much. Shoyo might not like it, though. What games do you have?'

 Natsu had run down the stairs to comfort her brother. She stroked his hair while he sobbed. 'I never wanted any of this to happen to him. I wanted to protect him, and it's all my fault. If I had just left him alone, Oikawa would never have found him.'

 'I don't think that's quite true.' Tsukishima said, and Hinata looked up at him, confused. 'Kageyama isn't going to age like normal humans. He'll die eventually, but he'll probably last a thousand years or so. What do you think the townsfolk would say when Kageyama never aged past twenty-five? Do you think he would have stayed in his hometown, protected by the seals on his house and school, once his mortal mother had passed away? It might have taken a hundred, or two, or three, but Oikawa would have found him in the end. If anything, it's luckier for us that Oikawa found out about him now- the older an Angel is, the stronger he is, and Oikawa is already centuries old.'

 'I could give him another feather-'

 'You're in no state to lose any more of your feathers, Shoyo. It'd be better if I gave him one of mine, although, it wouldn't be as powerful a charm as yours, but it would be better than nothing until your wings heal properly. That could take a while, but it's the best option we have, so don't open your mouth to argue with me about it.' Natsu scolded him, looking sadly at his damaged wings. They were in a worse state than her own, although some of her feathers had started to grow back. Hinata couldn't even look at her, he was still ashamed and upset about how badly he had hurt her. 'Not to mention Kageyama will have to accept the feather from you for the power to work. In the state he is in now, he might reject it.'

 'She has a point.' Kenma called from the living room. He'd plonked himself on the floor and was rummaging through the game cases in the drawer in the cabinet that the TV was perched on. 'Now that Tobio has remembered what happened and what he is, he might not wanted to be protected.'

 'Why wouldn't he want to be protected?' Tanaka had come thumping back down the stairs. Daichi glared at him. 'I know, I know, you told me to stay with him, but he's strapped in and dead-or-sleeping, whatever you want to call it, and I don't want to sit staring at some guy in a coma while all the action is happening down here. What's going on, why wouldn't Kageyama want a feather again?'

 'You think he would, he's riled on that since he got here.'

 'Apart from the time he tried to chuck it in the sea.' Tanaka reminded the group. 'And I stopped him- still haven't received a thank you from anyone, by the way. Thank you, Tanaka. It's not problem, guys, just looking out for my best friend's boyfriend, like a great friend would. Gosh, Tanaka, you're the best. Oh, shush, you guys, you're making me embarrassed-'

 Everyone stared silently at Tanaka as he jumped back and forth, pretending to have a conversation with himself. It wasn't until Tsukishima whacked him around the back of the head did he stop. He rounded on Tsukishima but fell back when Daichi stared at him.

 A tune from the living room told them that Kenma had turned the TV on and was loading up a video game. Saeko grumbled something about 'not ruining her high score' but it was ignored. Kenma turned to look over his shoulder. 'Oh, you want an answer.'

 'Yeah, preferably today.' Tsukishima scowled. It was clear being in the same room as Kenma was irritating him. He didn't usually lose any fights that he got into and it was clear he was the type to hold a grudge, even if he wouldn't physically show it or act upon it. It was more than likely that Tsukishima would bide his time and wait for the opportunity to arise to strike back. He had never been bothered about waiting. He was patient.

 'Well, Tobio has just remembered everything that happened in the church, and will probably keep reliving those memories in his nightmares, especially about hurting Shoyo. It's going to leave him with a lot of trauma and, especially if you keep him locked up, he's not going to be able to handle it. If I were him, I wouldn't want protection. I wouldn't want someone I'd hurt to forgive me and continue risking their life to save mine.'

 'What do you know about Kageyama, fleabag?' Tanaka frowned, trying to look intimidating even though Kenma wasn't looking at him. Daichi clipped him around the ear.

 'Stop that.'

 Kenma sniffed. 'Considering I've been inside of his head, I know more about him than you do. You can try offering him a feather again, but I doubt he will take it. I suspect when he finally wakes up, he's going to ask you to kill him.'


	26. Abomination

Everything hurt.

 His neck felt swollen and tight, breathing was difficult and there was a throbbing pain in his chest. The room was blurry and the light from the bulb overhead hurt his eyes. A dull ache in the back of his head made him wince, wanting nothing more than to return to sleep and wake up only when his body didn't feel like it was made out of lead.

 What kept Kageyama from closing his eyes again was the weight leaning against his lower legs. He lifted his head an inch from the pillows he was resting on, unable to sit up any higher without everything spinning, and found a person asleep at the foot of his bed.

 It was the flaming orange hair that made him realise instantly who it was. He couldn't breathe for a second, fear washing over him. Everything that had happened in the church came flooding back to him and he pressed the palms of his hands to his forehead, pressing hard, as though trying to drive out the memories.

 Having to accept that supernatural beings existed had been enough to drive him mad, but to have Angels and Demons piled on top of that...

 How could he be an Angel?

 It made no sense. He was just a kid- he was human, he had to be.

 Had his mother known? She must have known about Sunshine Harbour, it would make sense why she didn't want him to come here. Did she think he would find out he was an Angel? Why would she let him come if that were the case?

 Although, he would have left with or without her permission.

 What would she think when he returned home... _if_ he returned home. Would she even want him back?

 Had Hinata known from the start? Had he seen Kageyama that first day of Karasuno High and decided only to make friends with him because he was an Angel? Kageyama wasn't sure how that thought made him feel. Hinata's love had still been true, surely?

 Tears threatened at the corners of his eyes and he clenched his teeth, digging in his nails. He had hurt his friends, he hadn't even cared. He remembered it so vividly, the sights of their betrayed and hurt faces locked forever at the front of his mind. He could still feel the delicate papery feel of Noya's wings in his palm and the sound of them ripping out of his skin was still ringing in his ears.

 If this was who he was, who he truly was, then he didn't want it anymore. It had completely taken him over and he hadn't even been able to fight back. It wasn't like he'd been watching from the back of his mind, he hadn't been screaming for another part of him to stop, he had done it and he had felt nothing.

 Kageyama's eyes went back to Hinata. His black wings were folded on his back, looking ragged and thin. How many of Hinata's feathers had he carelessly torn out? How much damage- physically and mentally- had he caused to the person he loved more than anything on this planet? How could Hinata even be in the same room as him, let alone be comfortable enough to sleep in his presence?

 Nervously, he tried to reach over to pat Hinata's head, wanting to wake him up, but he couldn't reach. His wrists were bound by a thick leather strap, which connected to one that ran over his torso, stomach and thighs. There were weird gold carvings in the leather that he could not understand.

 Of course, it made sense. Suga must have sealed his powers and strapped him down. He wasn't even irritated by it, he just felt a wave of depression wash over him and he let his arms fall. They could no longer trust him. They probably viewed him in the same way they viewed Oikawa and the other Angel's. It was surprising they hadn't killed him off already- unless Hinata was preventing them from doing so?

 What should I do now? He thought, staring at the bedside drawer. The lamp was lit and there was a jug of water on the side, next to a photo of Saeko on a boat. She was leaning over the side, smiling and waving at the camera, with the two swimming girls, Kiyoko and Yachi, in the water. Kageyama could see Yachi's silvery tail just under the surface.

 Perhaps if he jumped in the ocean, they would drag him under like they did Tanaka. He could get Suga to seal his Angel powers so that side of him wouldn't wake when he was nearing death and he could just drown and let his body be stolen away be the sea. Oikawa would be happy, the townsfolk would be happy- it all made sense why no one had wanted to talk to him in the beginning. They must have known what he was and probably believed he was part of Oikawa's crew.

 He couldn't help wishing he'd never come to Sunshine Harbour, as awful a thought that was. Sure, he'd have been miserable without Hinata to grow old with (assuming he could grow old), but at least he would have lived a nice, normal, human life. He didn't want this. He didn't want to hurt anyone. All he had wanted was his boyfriend back.

 The door creaked open and in his panic, Kageyama shut his eyes and lay still. He was scared that if they knew he was awake, he would have to face the consquences of what he had done. He wasn't a coward, he knew it would something he would have to stand up to eventually, but he wasn't ready yet. He felt utterly vulnerable, he felt weak. He just wanted to lock himself away for an eternity. He didn't think he'd be able to cope seeing the state that he had left his friends in.

 'Shoyo?' A small voice whispered. It was Natsu. There were footsteps and the gentle rocking motion indicated she was shaking her brother awake. He made a small, groaning noise that made Kageyama's stomach flip. He had heard that noise so many times, back when Hinata had used to stay over at his house and Kageyama would have to smack him awake in the morning so they could go running together. He longed for that life back. 'Sorry to wake you, Saeko told me to tell you she's making dinner. Do you want any?'

 'Uh, yeah, please.' Hinata said, sitting up. Kageyama wanted desperately to talk to him, it had been so long since they'd properly spoken. He couldn't even remember what their last proper conversation had been about. They had probably argued. 'How long have I been asleep?'

 'All afternoon,' Natsu replied. 'Any change with Kageyama?'

 'No, he's still asleep.'

 'It's been a week.' She sounded worried and Kageyama almost gasped. He had to keep himself still, he didn't want to startle them.

 He'd been unconscious for a week? What had happened in that time? Where the others ok? Had Oikawa tried to attack again? He was burning with questions that he was too scared to ask. He didn't feel like he had the right to know the answer to any of them anymore. He didn't deserve to be in this bed, they should have just thrown him in a gutter somewhere.

 'It's going to take time for his body to recover. I know all his scars healed, but it took a lot of energy to use his Angel powers and he's probably going to feel drained for a while. It's better he sleep.'

 'Do you not want him to wake up?'

 Hinata paused before answering, which made Kageyama's fingers twitch. 'Of course I do, but I'm scared, Natsu. He remembered everything, and when he wakes up, it's all going to come back to him again. I'm scared he's going to have a panic attack or...' He trailed off. 'What Kenma said is still stuck in my head. I'm scared he's going to want us to just... to just... hand him over.'

 'Oh, Shoyo, please don't cry!'

 A knot tightened in Kageyama's chest. Hinata was crying over him? He still cared?

 'I'm sorry, I just never wanted any of this for him. I tried so hard to protect him from this life, he deserved to just lead a normal, human existence. I knew that at some point, I'd have to tell him, because we'd both never age, but... I don't know, I thought maybe I could modify his memory or something, make him believe we were still teenagers... is that awful of me? I only ever considered it, I never thought about actually going through with it, and I definitely wouldn't now, not having my own mind messed with.' Hinata's voice was shaky. 'Having Oikawa in my head was the worst experience of my life. I tried so hard to stop him from seeing Kageyama, but he's been my whole life since Mum and Dad died.'

 'You should have just left me,' Natsu sounded like she was crying too. 'Then you and Kageyama would have been safe.'

 'Are you kidding? How could I leave you behind?! You're my baby sister! You're the only family I have left. What would Mum and Dad think if they knew I'd just let Oikawa take you? They'd be furious at me! I'm your big brother and I'm always going to protect you, Natsu.' Hinata had gotten to his feet. Natsu gave a little sob. '... Not that I'm doing a very good job at protecting either of you, it seems. I hurt you both. I can't get the image of stabbing Tobio out of my head. It haunts me, whether I'm asleep or awake.'

 'H-he's going to know you didn't mean it, though,' Natsu said quietly. 'It was Oikawa controlling you-'

 'I swore from the first day I saw him that I was going to protect him. I knew he was Malpas's son and I knew Oikawa would never stop trying to find him and I couldn't let Oikawa kill anyone else innocent, and yet, look at him. He's exactly where I never wanted him to be. I am the worst boyfriend. Maybe I should just leave, he's better off without me-'

 'Don't you fucking dare.'

 Kageyama hadn't been able to ignore this last sentence. He'd sat up (as much as the restraints would allow him) and was glaring at Hinata, who looked shocked. Natsu clasped her hands to her mouth.

 'You're awake?!' Hinata gasped. Kageyama scowled and tried to fight against the straps.

 'There's no way in Hell that I'm letting you take off again, I didn't come all this way to try and find you for you to piss off somewhere else! You stupid fucking moron, why would you even consider that? I've gone through... through all this shit to get you back and you're going to act so selfishly?! I won't let you! You're coming back home with me, regardless of whether I have to physically drag you there, you got that, you brat?!'

 Breathing hard, Kageyama stopped fighting because the straps were hurting his wrists. To his surprise, Hinata started laughing.

 Natsu seemed shocked as well.

 'Why are you laughing?!' Kageyama demanded. Hinata was hunched over, wiping his eyes. Eventually, he straightened up and moved over to Kageyama, sitting on the bed. Kageyama fell back onto the pillows, feeling heat in his face. He hadn't been this close to 'normal' Hinata in some time. This didn't stop him from snapping at him, though. 'I'd throttle you if I wasn't strapped down, don't make fun of me!'

 'I'm not,' Hinata was beaming, tears in his eyes. He leaned over and wrapped his arms around Kageyama's neck, resting his head on his chest. His heartbeat sped up. 'I'm just so, _so_ happy that you're... you. I've missed you so much and not being with you has been the worst time of my life. I'm so sorry about everything, Tobio. It's all my fault. I tried so hard to keep you safe.'

 'I heard your conversation with your sister.' Kageyama had placed a shaky hand on Hinata's back. Touching him made his body go stiff. He was so terrified of hurting him, or being rejected by him.

 'How long have you been awake, Kageyama?' Natsu asked, creeping over.

 'Not long, I woke up just before you came in.'

 Hinata sat up, leaning close to Kageyama's face. He put one hand on his cheek, but Kageyama couldn't maintain eye contact. Natsu, looking awkward, backed out of the room and shut the door, leaving the boys alone. Tears escaped Hinata's eyes and dropped down onto Kageyama's neck. 'I'm so happy you're alright.'

 'Stop it, you're not supposed to be happy! I hurt you! I hurt everyone! I'm a monster! How can you smile like that?!' Kageyama tried to push him off but Hinata smacked his hands away. He ended up head butting him in their little wrestling match and the pair of them hissed and Hinata rolled onto his back, clutching his head. Kageyama glared at him. 'That was your fault, you dumbass!'

 'You're not the only one who lost control and hurt the others!' Hinata shouted angrily. He sat up and shifted himself so he was sat on Kageyama's hips. He hit him in the chest and Kageyama grabbed hold of his wrist to stop him from doing it again, swearing at him. Hinata was really crying now and Kageyama could feel his throat closing and his bottom lip wobbling. He didn't want to cry but he felt like his body wasn't going to give him much choice. 'Should I just stop talking to you then, do you think I'm a monster? You say you don't want me to go anywhere, that you want me to go home with you, and then you come out with all that crap? What do you want, Tobio? Should I hate myself for what happened?'

 'No! That was Oikawa-'

 'It was Oikawa that did it to you, too!' Hinata snapped. 'Oikawa pushed you over the edge and made the dormant side of you take over, you had no control over it, so don't blame yourself. We were both played by him, it's Oikawa that hurt them, not us.'

 'Oikawa isn't the one that is going to have to live with the memories! He's not going to have nightmares every night of hurting them, or you! It was me who tore your feathers off, I can see it behind my eyes when I close them! They all must hate me.'

 'No one hates you! No one blames you! Do you hate me for stabbing you in the chest?'

 'Shut up! Shut up! Stop defending me!'

 'I will never stop defending you until the day I die!' Hinata wrenched his arm out of Kageyama's grip. 'I love you, you stupid idiot! I am so madly in love with you and the thought of you blaming yourself for what Oikawa did to you makes me want to hit you! I won't let him hurt you again, I promise. Please, believe me. I just want you to be happy. I want you to stay in my life forever. Please.'

 He leaned over and pressed his face into Kageyama's neck, his arms winding around his back. Kageyama grabbed hold of him and squeezed him tightly, his face buried in Hinata's hair. It smelt like he remembered.

 Then they were kissing. Kageyama hadn't expected it, but Hinata had just taken charge. Not that he was unhappy about it. This is what he had been dreaming of every day since Hinata had disappeared.

 It was hot and heavy and passionate, and Kageyama never wanted it to end. However, they broke apart when Tanaka burst into the room, followed by Daichi and Suga. They both scolded him.

 'You should have knocked!'

 'You really have no manners, do you, Tanaka?'

 'I didn't know they'd be making out! Jeez! Sorry for interrupting!'

 Hinata had slid off the bed, looking bashful. Kageyama was red in the face and felt super awkward when Suga came and stood by the bedside. He was carrying a tray, which he placed on the bedside table.

 'I'm glad to see you're doing ok, Kageyama.' He smiled warmly. 'I brought some food for you. I'll undo the straps on your body to allow you to sit up, but do you mind if I keep the ones fixed on your wrists? You'll be freely able to move your arms, I just worry that any high level of stress could cause you to ... you know...'

 'It's fine.' Kageyama said, waiting patiently as Suga undid the three straps on his chest, stomach and legs. He let Hinata help him sit up, while Daichi fluffed the pillows and Suga placed the tray on his lap. There was fresh, crusty bread and thick tomato soup. 'Thanks.'

 He didn't know what to say. He could barely look at them, he felt so ashamed in himself.

 Suga took a seat at the end of the bed. He cleared his throat. 'Kageyama, I want you to know that no one is angry at you. No one blames you, so please, don't blame yourself. It was completely out of your control and honestly, it was better that your Angel side took over because it was the only thing that saved you. None of us are dead, we're all healing and Noya is doing fine.'

 'He came back?' Hinata asked. Suga nodded.

 'Ah yes, you've not been downstairs much. He came back yesterday, apparently he spent the past week down the docks bothering Kiyoko. I get the impression he was hoping she'd know a way to turn him into a merman.'

 'Pfft, I've tried that.' Tanaka scoffed. Daichi glared at him and he fell silent.

 'His wings won't grow back, will they?' Kageyama mumbled. Suga sighed.

 'Unfortunately not. Please don't get panicked when I tell you that ripping out a pixie's wings basically makes them mortal, because you don't need to get worked up about it. Noya will be fine, he's found another option.'

 'Another option?'

 'Ah yes, well, he had a choice and he's now super excited to become a werewolf like Asahi. We have to wait until the next full moon, unfortunately, but it'll mean he will age and die at the same rate that Asahi will, which is slightly less than a Pixie, but it's better than nothing. I think he just likes the idea of being a wolf. The only thing he's really irritated about is having to walk everywhere, but he'll get used to it.'

 Kageyama stirred his soup, not wanting to reply. He still felt awful about it, he'd taken away a part of Noya's identity. Surely Noya was going to resent him for the rest of his life?

 'I'm guessing you have questions?'

 To their surprise, Kageyama laughed. It sounded forced though. He looked up. 'Will I actually get the truth this time?'

 Suga looked uncomfortable. He shifted in his seat. Daichi squeezed his shoulder reassuringly and said, 'Please understand why we didn't tell you the truth. Hinata asked us to keep you safe, and it was the only way we knew how.'

 'Besides, would ya have really believed it if we'd just been like, haha yeah, Kags, you're part Angel, enjoy dealing with that.' Tanaka snorted. Kageyama frowned.

 'Part Angel? I'm not a full Angel?'

 'You're a Nephilim.' Suga explained. 'Which means you are both part human and part Angel. Your father, Malpas, was a fallen Angel. As your mother was a human, you are more human than Angel, so please don't think you no longer belong to that world. Technically, you belong in both. That is why you can see Sunshine Harbour, it was quite difficult thinking up an excuse about that... I didn't lie when I said your father was a traveller. He did want you, you know. He wanted to be with you and your mother, but Oikawa made it impossible. To him, you are an Abomination. It is a sin for Angels and humans to breed. That is the reason he wants you dead.'

 'He's not going to stop until I'm dead, is he?'

 'No.'

 'Don't even suggest that we hand you over, 'cos it ain't happenin', so don't even try.' Tanaka warned, pulling an intimidating-looking expression, which earned him a slap from Daichi.

 'He's not in town at the moment, according to Tsukishima. He's been gone for a while, we aren't sure where, or why, but it's putting us on edge. We've been out trying to fix the industrial estate, but it's dangerous to leave Saeko's house for too long. They could come back at any moment.'

 'What's the plan then, keep me locked here forever?'

 Suga sighed. 'No, we're going to have to kill Oikawa.'

 Both Hinata and Kageyama looked up at the same time and spoke in unison.

 'I want in.'

 Daichi raised his arms. 'Ah well, both of you need to rest first and not think about more fighting. It's too dangerous. Hinata, until your wings have healed, you'll be weak against the Angels, and Kageyama, if you can't control your power, you'll end up fighting against us again.'

 'Wait, wait, I can control my power? How?'

 'There have been Nephilim's in the past who have been able to use their Angel magic to their advantage.' Tsukishima had just entered the room, followed by Yamaguchi. He yawned and ran his fingers through his golden hair. 'I'll help you practice, under certain circumstances, but don't think I'm doing this because I care about what happens to you. I suggested it would be easier to just give you to Oikawa; unfortunately, I was out-voted.'

 'I would rather learn by myself.' Kageyama spat. Tsukishima shrugged and turned to leave.

 'Suit yourself.'

 'No, no, wait, Tsukishima.' Suga jumped up and grabbed hold of the back of his shirt, pulling him back into the room. 'You promised me you'd help him.'

 There was a moment where Tsukishima just looked at Suga, then he closed his eyes and let out a long, exhausted sigh. 'Fine, fine. Training will start tomorrow, I have things to do today, but I'm not going to force you to get out of that bed, so don't blame me if he doesn't want to do it. I've babysat him enough.'

 Once again, Tsukishima tried to leave but Kageyama called out his name, making him stop and look over his shoulder.

 'What?'

 Kageyama gritted his teeth and dropped his spoon, making some of the soup slosh over the side of the bowl. He clenched his fists and opened his mouth, but the words that came out were heavily stammered. 'F-Fr-Fa-Thanks... f-f-for everything.'

 Tsukishima raised an eyebrow and put cupped hand to his ear. 'I'm sorry, I didn't quite get that, want to say it louder?'

 'T-Thank you...' Kageyama muttered, only slightly louder. Tsukishima moved even closer, really playing it up.

 'Still can't hear you.'

 Kageyama ended up knocking his tray over, spilling orange soup all over the bed covers and he said at the top of his voice, 'THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!'

 While Tsukishima left the room chuckling to himself, Suga hurried off to get something to clean up the mess before it stained. Tanaka remained in the room with Daichi and Hinata, shaking his head. He nodded his head towards the bedroom door.

 'Saeko is gonna kill you.' He pointed to a nasty looking red mark on his upper arm. 'I got that from just knocking over her morning cup of coffee.'

 'I'm sure the stain will come out.' Daichi said reassuringly, picking up the fallen tray.

 Just at that very moment, a loud, angry female voice floated from downstairs.

 'HE DID WHAT!?'

 Tanaka shrugged his shoulders. 'Well, at least Oikawa can't kill you if Saeko does it first.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY IT HAS TAKEN SO LONG TO UPDATE  
> Why must real life get in the way? I swear I am still fully interested in this story and will continue writing it until it's finished - luckily there's only four chapters left to go, it's just finding the time to write, because this one has taken me all afternoon.  
> I'm hoping that if I can keep on top of my uni work, I can have Sunday's to myself and be able to write fic on those days, but we'll see.


	27. Silence

A whole month had passed since Kageyama had started his training with Tsukishima. He was allowed out of his restraints for certain periods during the day, when he'd be taken outside into Saeko's back garden, which Suga had cast a protection charm over. It wouldn't keep Angels out, but it meant no one in the garden would be visible to passersby. Obviously, using Angel repelling magic would be a bad idea when Kageyama was trying to activate his Angel powers. When his powers had gone haywire in Saeko's house, it had caused Suga's Angel ward to corrupt, hence why he was now forced out into the garden so Suga didn't have to keep redoing it.

 It was an excruciatingly difficult thing to control and it was really starting to wind Kageyama up. He was getting so sick of the sight of this house, the others got to disappear off into town at their own leisure, but he was forbidden from stepping out of Suga's safety zone. It wasn't like he could just sit out in the garden and practise all the time, because whenever Tsukishima wasn't around he wasn't allowed to train. They didn't trust that he'd be able to control it and Tsukishima was the only one of them brave enough to approach Kageyama and break his neck- not that they'd had to do this since.

 Tsukishima was trying to teach Kageyama to use his power without having to get in some kind of emotional state first. He said now that his powers had been activated, they'd never shut off again, so it was his responsibility to get a grasp on them and keep them back, otherwise he'd end up destroying everything around him.

 At first, he'd been unable to summon any kind of power at all, which only made him get steadily madder until his eyes began to glow and he broke several of Saeko's photo frames. He'd received a wallop over the head for that with her broom.

 Eventually, after being beaten several times by various people, he managed to get a hold of switching on and off his power. It was hard to explain to the others how he did it, because it felt like it was just a part of him now. He almost felt as if he'd had this ability his whole life. It just felt natural to him.

 However, actually doing anything other than making objects wobble around seemed to be impossible. He couldn't let himself get frustrated by it because the moment he did, Tsukishima would make him stop training for the day and said there was no point continuing if Kageyama was going throw a tantrum. He needed to be in control of his own emotions, because otherwise Oikawa would find a way to use them against him and he couldn't risk losing his mind in the middle of a battle.

 Oikawa and his gang were still out of town. Their sudden vanishing act had set the whole group on edge, especially Tsukishima, who often went prowling around the town during the night, trying to track them. Asahi had gone with him into the forest to search but they had come back shaking their heads (Asahi also came back with his whole body shaking out of fright. Kageyama didn't want to know what was in those trees). 

 'They're up to something. I just can't figure out what.' Tsukishima said irritably over dinner one night. He said this often, more to himself than anyone else in the room.

 Kageyama had tried to discuss the subject of just upping and leaving. He said if Oikawa could not find his father, then surely if he just spent his life travelling from place to place, he'd struggle finding him as well. He could take Hinata with him, wear a new feather, and they could leave the town in peace again, but the idea was shot down straight away.

 'Just because the Angel's aren't here doesn't mean Oikawa won't have other people on his side acting as spies. No one would dare attack us when we're out, but I bet they've been reporting back to Oikawa, somehow, about what we're up to.' Daichi explained. He was looking a little tired these days, he wasn't getting as much blood as he was used to. Suga had lost the majority of his potions back in the inn's fire, so he couldn't create whatever potion replenished his blood supply after he'd allowed Daichi to feed. Apparently the ingredients he needed were located somewhere else, another town, and he didn't have time to disappear to go on a journey to find them. He usually only went once a year and stocked up with enough to last.

 This meant Daichi could only feed from him once a week, if he was lucky. The blood loss affected Suga a lot more than Kageyama had expected it to, and Suga had to explain that vampires could take a litre of blood from your body within seconds. Daichi was struggling to control himself and had started to push Suga away whenever he offered himself up, scared that this time he'd drain him completely.

 Kenma, who often came and went as he pleased, had reluctantly teleported to a hospital in Sunshine Bay and stolen loads of blood bags. Daichi watered the blood down, which he said was disgusting but it kept him going. Human blood was highly addictive and he'd spent years trying to fight that addiction, he didn't want to slip up now and go on a killing spree.

  _That's reassuring_ , Kageyama had thought, watching Daichi grimace as he downed a cup of watery blood. _Of course, he couldn't drink my blood now that I'm an Angel._

He always found himself thinking that - _now_ that he was an Angel. He had always been an Angel - or a Nephilim, to be correct. It wasn't something that had just randomly appeared within him one day, he'd been born like this, he'd just never known.

 All he needed was focus. He had to think about what he was doing and where he was channelling his energy to, but it was hard. There were so many distractions, and it didn't help that Hinata kept bobbing around, wanting to provide hints and tips, like he knew exactly how Angel magic worked. He kept trying to explain how he used his own magic in a really stupid, complicated way with lots of 'gwah's and 'waah's mixed in to the sentences, which made Tsukishima look very confused.

 'Stop filling his head with rubbish, Hinata. Angel magic is very simple, all he has to do is focus on what he wants to do and it should, in theory, happen. Of course, we've failed to take into account that Kageyama is an idiot and can't handle the most basic of tasks like making a rock levitate.'

 'I'm trying! It's not that easy!' Kageyama snapped, only to have Tsukishima casually flick his wrist and the rock came flying at him, hitting him square in the forehead. He winced, hissing, getting up, ready to start a shouting match, but he suddenly changed his mind, let out a long breath and sat back down again, picking up the rock from where it had fallen at his feet. 'I'm not going to get mad, so stop trying.'

 'You think Oikawa will stop if you ask him nicely?' Tsukishima raised an eyebrow, adjusting his glasses.

 'You'll definitely get the hang of it, Tobio!' Hinata said encouragingly, beaming from ear to ear. 'Just focus and then, gwah!'

 'I thought I told you to stop that.'

 Leaving Hinata to bicker with Tsukishima, Kageyama crossed his legs and put his hands on his knees, leaning over to glare at the rock. It was about the size of his palm and jagged looking. His forehead was still stinging from the impact but he ignored it, he wasn't going to let Tsukishima get the better of him.

_Focus your energy..._

 Move the rock.

 He raised his hands, watching as they started to glow blue.

 Move the rock.

 Kageyama moved his hand. Nothing happened. He did it again. Still nothing.

 Taking a deep breath, Kageyama twisted his hand for the third time and the rock lifted off the ground, surrounded by a neon blue light. He gasped and lost focus. The rock fell to the ground.

 'I did it!'

 Hinata pounced on him, hugging him and kissing his cheek. Tsukishima groaned. 'Stop that, please. I guess that's some progress, at least. Keep trying, I'm going inside for a bit. If you can get it to move at your command without dropping, shout me.'

 Having Tsukishima out of the way actually made it a lot easier for Kageyama to concentrate. He felt perfectly comfortable having Hinata by his side, and he knew that Hinata would never judge him the way Tsukishima did every time he made the slightest mistake. Instead, he kept encouraging Kageyama to try again and again, saying that he'd definitely be able to do it and the more he practiced the better he'd get.

 At one point, Kageyama had the rock floating in the palm of his hand and he used his other to spin it this way and that. He looked up at Hinata, a smile stretching over his face. He was certain he hadn't smiled this way in so long.

 Dancing excitedly on the spot, Hinata ended up knocking the rock out of Kageyama's hand and leaping on him, knocking him to the ground, limbs intertwined. They were mid-way through what planned to be quite a heavy make-out session when a cough from the doorway interrupted them and they broke apart.

 Suga was leaning against the doorway, a small smirk on his lips. He was holding a book. 'Sorry to interrupt boys, but I thought you were supposed to be practicing out here?'

 'We were, I mean, I was,' Kageyama stuttered, feeling embarrassed. He'd never been one for public displays of affection. 'I can make rocks float, watch.'

 The rock that had been knocked to the floor now rose in front of Suga, along with several others around the garden. Kageyama made them spin in midair but when he tried to get them to move, they all crashed into each other and fell to the ground, cracked and broken.

 'It's good to see you're starting to get the hang of it. Angel power is tricky because it's quite thought controlled, and if you haven't grown up learning where to focus your energy then it's going to take time to master the skill.'

 'Do you think I'll ever be ready to fight Oikawa?'

 For a moment, Suga just looked at him with his mouth open. He was considering what to say and Kageyama knew it wouldn't be anything good. He hung his head. All he wanted to do was help out, and make right everything he had done wrong to these people who had taken care of him since day one. 'Oikawa is centuries old, Kageyama. No matter how much you train, you'll never be as strong as him, which is unfortunate. Don't worry about it too much, there are other ways you can participate, assuming Oikawa ever returns.'

 'Still no news?' Hinata asked. Suga shook his head and ran his hand through his silver hair.

 'Not a word. I don't like it. I can sense something bad is going to happen.'

 'Have you figured out a way we can kill Oikawa?' Hinata asked. Suga nodded.

 'Ah yes, that's the reason I came out here to talk to you, actually. As you know, I've been sending Kenma off to find me books on Angels, I needed as much Angel lore as I could get my hands on, but the majority it has proved pretty useless. Most people believe Angel's are immortal, however, this book,' he held up a black leather-bound book that he had been carrying. 'Proves otherwise.'

 'Oh?'

 'Kenma said it's likely that Angel's destroyed any written text about their weaknesses, as they feared other creatures may try to use it against them. They like to lord it over everyone else, they want to be top of the food chain, and they'd do anything to keep that position, but this was tucked away in a really old bookshop in Angel's Haven. I thought it actually might interest you a lot, Kageyama.'

 'Huh? Why me?'

 'Turns out this is your father's old journal.'

 'What?!'

  Kageyama hurried over, snatching it from Suga. He opened it and peered at the first page, which had a swirly signature on the inside that read 'Malpas'.

 'Are you sure it's the Malpas? I know it's not a common name, but it could be someone else?'

 'Kenma said there's traces of Angel magic on it. There's a love letter inside, written to your mother. I think she might have gotten rid of the book, or at least tried. Your father probably told her to protect it, as he's written loads about supernatural creatures inside, ones he's found during his travels, and plenty about Angel's too.'

 Both Hinata and Suga were surprised when Kageyama laughed. He was reading the love letter on the second page. 'My mother always said if you want to hide a tree, put it in a forest. No one ever went in that old bookshop, and a town full of religious nutters would never want a book speaking about Demons and how to murder an Angel.'

 'Clever woman, your mother.'

 'Are you alright, Tobio? You look a bit upset.' Hinata placed a hand on his shoulder. Kageyama nodded, trying to smile.

 'I'd never really thought much about my father growing up, I'd always assuming he was some dead-beat who couldn't give a shit about me or my Mum, but...' He nodded towards the letter. It  wasn't very long, but it spoke about how a family was all Malpas had ever wanted and he was heartbroken to have to leave her and his unborn child behind, and asked that she never tell the child about anything supernatural.

 He'd ended it with 'Protect my child at all costs'.

 'He actually wanted me.' Kageyama said slowly. Hinata squeezed his arm. Kageyama looked up at Suga. 'Do you have any idea where he is, or where he might be? I want to meet him, I  want to talk to him, maybe he could help us-'

 'Your father never was a fighter, he wouldn't want to get involved. I have no idea where he is, this world is huge and this is just one realm. He could be anywhere. I'm sorry I can't help, but maybe, if we get rid of Oikawa and  the other Angels, and word gets out that they're gone, he might return to Sunshine Harbour.'

 Kageyama nodded, feeling hopeful. He had to get rid of Oikawa if he wanted to meet his Dad. 'Then I'll wait.'

 'What about your mother?'

 Kageyama thought about it for a moment, before saying, 'She could move back to Sunshine Bay, yeah? That's not far from here. I can spend as much time with her then. She wouldn't be in any danger with Oikawa gone. Maybe if Dad came back, he'd be able to meet her again. I think she'd like that.'

 'You know, you could call her- Saeko has a phone.'

 The book slipped from Kageyama's hands and Hinata, with lightning reflexes, caught it. Kageyama slapped himself in the head. 'Why did I never think of that!? She's going to be so upset with me!'

 'Don't worry, don't worry, I'm sure she knows you're safe. I did get in contact with her ages ago.' Suga didn't look so sure. Kageyama sighed and took the journal back off Hinata. He wanted to go sit somewhere on his own and read this. Maybe there would be more messages from his Dad.

 'What's the part about killing Angels, then?' Hinata questioned.

 'Uh, I don't remember what page it's on, but I can tell you. He said there's two ways to do it, either you stab them in the heart with an Angel blade, which we already knew, but getting hold of one of those blades is ridiculously tricky, or you can tear their wings off.'

 'What, like Noya?'

 'Yes, exactly. The bodies they inhabit were once humans, Angels need to take a vessel to walk amongst us. In reality, they look very different, although don't ask me because I've never seen one. They can burn your eyes out of your skull by looking at them. Oikawa has had that vessel for about thirty years now. I think he likes the attention it brings him, because he's conventionally attractive. I'm pretty sure Iwaizumi hasn't changed his in over a century. He doesn't really care.'

 'So what happened to that person that used to own that body?'

 'Gone. Once an Angel takes over, that's it. When the Angel dies, or moves on to another vessel, the body withers away because the energy it requires to hold an Angel is immense, especially since the body never physically ages. Angels have to be accepted in by the host, so it was that man's choice to let Oikawa into his body.'

 'Surely he didn't know he'd die if he did that though?'

 Suga shrugged. 'He must have believed it was God's wish or whatever. I imagine Oikawa told him that he would be sent to Heaven's pearly gates or something.'

 'So, what, we just tear his wings off? And that'll kill him?'

 'No. It'll make the body mortal. Oikawa will have to find a new vessel, but it'll make him weak. We can kill him then.'

 'Personally, I still like the idea of sucking him into a giant vortex.' Tanaka had appeared, holding a beer can. He pulled a face at Suga. 'But apparently that's not sensible.'

 'Last time you opened a vortex you destroyed all of the industrial estate. The townsfolk are still really pissed off at you.'

 'Hey! That wasn't my fault! That little brat was in my head. At least I got to kiss Kiyoko.' Tanaka sighed dramatically, his eyes glazing over. 'I would follow her to the ends of the earth.'

 'If you can swim fast enough.'

 'You need to work on turning me and Noya into mermen, Suga.' Tanaka slurped his drink noisily. 'Before he goes through with this whole wolf business.'

 'Do you not want him to become a werewolf?' Kageyama asked. Tanaka shrugged.

 'I've heard how bad it is from Asahi and I just don't want Noya to go through that if he's not certain. I know he's excited about it, but what if he changes his mind once he becomes a stinky mutt? All that pain for nothing.'

 'It's nice to see you're worrying about your friend.'

 'Well, someone around here's gotta! You're all too busy babysitting  Kags.'

 'I don't need babysitting.' Kageyama scowled. He pushed past Tanaka, making his way back into the house. 'I'm going to ring my mother.'

 From behind him, he heard Hinata asking about Kenma. The two of them were very close friends and Hinata liked having him around, but Kenma got very fidgety and bored staying in the house all the time and often disappeared for weeks at a time, especially since Suga had kindly asked him to run some errands.

 'He's probably out looking for Kuroo. I bet he wants to go back to his own realm.' Kageyama had heard Suga reply.

 Saeko's phone was located in the kitchen. It was bright red in colour and Kageyama was surprised he hadn't spotted it. He asked her first if he could use it and she said yeah, and he hurried dialled his home number and waited, feeling anxious. He hadn't heard his mother's voice in a long time. What would be the first thing she said to him?

 The phone rang and he shuffled on the spot.

 It kept ringing before going to voicemail. Her voice spoke and he felt even more nervous. He didn't want to leave a voicemail, so he hung up and tried again.

 After ten attempts there was still no answer, so he decided she was probably out and he'd try again later.

 Just as he'd settled himself at the kitchen table with a glass of milk and some pork sandwiches, which Asahi had kindly made for him, Noya burst into the room, panting. He took a while to speak, trying to catch his breath.

 'I-fucking-hate-running!' He wheezed as everyone gathered around him. He pointed at the door. 'Oikawa-Angels-ocean-Kiyoko-Yachi-help them.'

 'WHAT?!' Tanaka was up and out of the door before anyone could stop him. Tsukishima swore under his breath, clearly irritated he hadn't been paying attention and ran out after Tanaka, with Yamaguchi at his heels.

  'What's happening? Oikawa's back?'

 Noya nodded, red in the face. Being mortal did not suit him. 'I was down at the beach and then I heard all these screams and there were Angel's flying everywhere, picking up the townsfolk and dropping them. They're smashing up buildings and set fire to the school. Oikawa came straight for me and I ran for it, but he grabbed me by the back of the shirt and flung me down the beach. Lucky sand is soft, but it's all in my butt. Anyway, Kiyoko and Yachi were visible in the water and he's started terrorising them, making the water really hazardous. I know they won't drown but they're struggling to swim and he keeps trying to pick them up! He was laughing like a maniac! We need to go help them!'

 'I'm going!' Suga cried, grabbing his little bag of potions and running towards the door. Daichi hurried after him, pulling up the hood on his jacket. It was starting to grow darker as the afternoon fell into evening and the clouds were heavy in the sky, so the sunlight was minimal at this point. As long as he avoided any bright patches, he wouldn't burn.

 Whenever he moved at vampire speed it made Kageyama blink. It was bizarre seeing someone stood in front of you one second and then gone the next.

 He made his way towards the door but Hinata jumped in front of him, holding his hands up. 'What are you doing?'

 'We've got to go help the girls!' Kageyama said as if it were obvious. Hinata shook his head.

 'Oikawa is purposely trying to lure us out! He let Noya run back here so he could tell us what was going on and we'd go rescue them. He wants you to go to the beach so he can kill you. You have to stay here, where it's safe.'

  'He's right, you know.' Asahi said. He had remained behind because he hated leaving Noya by himself. Noya was eating Kageyama's sandwiches and pacing up and down, obviously worried about the girls and furious with himself that he could no longer do anything to help. The full moon was going to happen in the next couple of days and the closer it got, the more on edge he seemed.

 'I could do something! I can't just stay here!'

 'You're not strong enough!' Hinata cried, pushing him back. 'Please, Tobio, don't walk into his trap. I can't even bare to think about losing you. Please.'

 'Hinata, what's going on?' Saeko had come thundering down the stairs. She'd been keeping Natsu company, who was now peering over the banister, wondering what the commotion was about.

 'Kiyoko and Yachi are in trouble.' Noya said and Saeko yelped. She grabbed her coat and marched towards the door, before turning back to Natsu. 'Stay here.'

 'Can't I-'

 'No.' Hinata and Saeko spoke at the same time. He nodded to her. 'I'll watch them, go.'

 Saeko slammed the door behind her. Natsu came downstairs, looking crestfallen. Her wings were almost healed but Hinata was being an over-bearing big brother and would rarely let her out of the house. He took her hands. 'I know you want to help, Natsu, but I don't- I can't- I don't want to have to worry about you getting hurt again. Here, you're safe. I know where you are.'

 'If the others don't come back soon, I'm going.' Natsu said firmly, making Hinata look taken aback. She usually agreed with whatever he said, but this time, she was putting her foot down. 'I'm sorry, Shoyo, but they're my friends and I don't want them to get hurt. I'll help the others any way I can.'

 'If she's going, I'm going too.' Kageyama cut in. Hinata scowled. Kageyama raised an eyebrow at him. 'You know I've always been able to win you in a fight.'

 'As if! I went easy on you! Try me now!' Hinata's eyes flashed orange as though giving a warning.

 'You're not the only supernatural being in this house-' Kageyama went to raise his hand but Noya kicked him in the side, making him wheeze and fall over. 'What was that for?!'

 'Don't use your stupid Angel magic in here! You know it'll fuck with Suga's spell and I don't need Oikawa and his freaks getting in!' Noya went and sat at the table, putting his feet up. He was staring out of the window, muttering under his breath. Kageyama caught the words 'Ryuu' and 'please come back'.

  And so they waited. The ticking clock on the wall didn't help add to the suspense. It felt as if time was going even slower, just to mess with them. Kageyama couldn't sit still, he kept pacing and trying make a break for the door, but Hinata would always be there to stop him. They had to put some faith in the others, he said, they would come back.

 So when the door burst open, Kageyama felt a sigh of relief was over him. Tanaka and Saeko came into the house, carrying two unconscious girls. Saeko had hold of Yachi, who was sopping wet and had a nasty looking cut on her shoulder. Tanaka was carrying Kiyoko bridal-style. Both girls still had their tails.

 It was Suga who made them a potion to give them legs, so obviously they'd still be mermaids. Kageyama hadn't seen their tails before and he was mesmerised by them. They were so shimmery, covered in thousands of beautiful multi-coloured scales. It turned out they only appeared different colours because the silver colour of scales reflected light in the room.

 To his surprise, Tanaka didn't look very happy.

 Saeko had kindly wrapped her coat around Yachi, as neither of the girls wore anything from the waist up, and Kiyoko had on the hoody Suga had lent her ages ago when she'd come to the industrial estate to snap Tanaka out of his mind control. Suga had obviously never bothered to collect it from the pier.  

 He placed Kiyoko gently down on the kitchen floor next to Yachi, while Saeko went to get some pillows to put under their heads.

 'What's wrong? Where are the others?' Noya asked, getting to his feet. Tanaka sat down on the floor next to Kiyoko and took her delicate hand in his. Kageyama couldn't help but think that if she woke up now, she'd probably slap him.

 'Oikawa, that dick-'

 'What? What's going on?' Asahi looked incredibly worried. He was shaking, glancing constantly at the door, as if hoping the others would come bursting through any moment.

  'We couldn't do much about it, the Angels were everywhere.' Saeko came marching back in the room with cushions. She carefully put them under each girl's slumbering head and got to work mopping up Yachi's wound. 'It was difficult enough getting to Kiyoko and Yachi because Oikawa had picked them both up and was throwing them about in mid-air. Tsukishima transformed and tackled him, but Oikawa knocked him into the water. I don't know if you know this, but Tsukishima hates the water. He started freaking out and Yamaguchi jumped in to help him. The girls hit the pier and it knocked them out. Me and Tanaka grabbed them and ran for it while Suga and Daichi were keeping Oikawa busy, but we saw Oikawa grab Suga and carry him off.'

 'What? He took Suga?'

 'Why would he take Suga?'

 'I think he wants to use one of us as a hostage to draw Kageyama out. He looked disappointed when Kags didn't turn up to help the girls.' Tanaka said, stroking Kiyoko's glossy black hair. 'Daichi's gone after him.'

 'Will Daichi be able to get him back?' Hinata asked anxiously. Saeko and Tanaka exchanged glances.

 'We don't know. Tsukishima was crawling out of the ocean when Oikawa grabbed Suga, so I imagine he'll go after them too.'

 'I knew we should have gone, we could have done something-'

 'No, Kageyama, it's better you didn't go, or it'd be you Oikawa was carrying off.'

 'That would be better! You've all been through enough because of me! Suga doesn't need to go through any of that again! None of you do! Stop defending me, and let me face him myself!'

 'You're not thinking logically, Kageyama.' Tsukishima had just come into the house, dripping wet and looking very irritable. He shook himself out like an animal would do. He wasn't wearing his glasses. They must have fallen off when he'd dropped into the water. Yamaguchi had disappeared upstairs to get some towels. Saeko got to her feet, rounding on him.

 'What the hell are you doing here? Why aren't you after Suga?'

 'He's taken him into the forest, I can't track him when he's in there and I can't transform while I'm wet. Daichi has gone after him and the sun is setting, so he might be able to grab Suga- he's not as strong as an Angel but he can outrun one. I'm here because there's something I need Kageyama to know. I'll head back out the moment I'm dried off, so please, stand a bit further back because your perfume is overbearing.' Tsukishima accepted the towels that Yamaguchi had handed over as he rejoined the group. He began scrubbing at his hair. 'I don't think Oikawa is stupid enough to think he'd be able to draw Kageyama out by just abusing the town, he knows we wouldn't let him go.'

 'So, why was he doing it then?' Noya puzzled. Tsukishima sighed, his eyes fixed on Kageyama.

 'I feel I shouldn't tell you this, but I believe you have a right to know.'

 'Tell me what?' Kageyama asked. His heart was racing. What could Oikawa have possibly done now?

 It took Tsukishima a while to speak. He seemed to considering the options over in his head and his silence was irritating Kageyama, making him snap. Tsukishima was busy peeling off his shirt, which was stuck to his skin and didn't pay Kageyama much attention.

 'I'm going to hit you in a minute if you don't tell us!' Saeko said what Kageyama was thinking. She raised her fists and pulled an expression similar to one her brother often made. Tanaka copied her, but kept his hands on Kiyoko. This was probably the most he'd ever been able to touch her in his life.

 'Before I tell you this, I need you to put your seals back on.' Tsukishima told Kageyama, who kicked up a fuss until Saeko scolded him for wasting time and he allowed Hinata to reattach the wrist straps with the swirly symbols. He sighed and wrapped the towel around his shoulders, looking tired.

 'Oikawa has your mother.'


	28. Love Bites

No one in the town liked entering the forest that surrounded Sunshine Harbour, it didn't matter how powerful a being you were, the things that resided in the trees were worse than the creatures of nightmares. They were beings that did not take human form, did not think rationally or logically or in any human sense at all, it was sheer animal instinct and they would kill anyone, human or not, on sight.

 Daichi had hated when Suga decided to take trips into the forest. Obviously, he never dared to venture too far in for fear of getting lost, or worse, but just having him go anywhere near to those trees set Daichi's teeth on edge.

 'I'll be fine,' Suga had always said in that overly cheerful manner of his. He liked to go looking for items he could use in potions, there was all sorts of weird and wonderful thing growing from the forest floor or hanging from low branches. He had once come back with some intriguing looking golden fruits, perhaps apples, which none of his potion books could identify. Eventually, he'd had Tanaka try a piece, seeing as there was very little that could kill a God, and had coughed up so much blood that Daichi had to evacuate the room.

 It turned out the apples, or whatever they were, rotted away your insides. Suga had them destroyed immediately and apologised profusely to Tanaka, who took two weeks to fully recover. Suga offered him free drinks at the Sugar Cup for life. Tanaka was pleased enough by this compensation and abused his newly found power as much as possible before Suga told him he was limited to a certain amount each day.

 This was the first time Daichi had ever entered the forest alone. And at night. The pair of them had always gone just before the sun rose or set, depending on their mood, as Daichi refused to let him go alone and he couldn't go with him while the sun was in the sky.

 Surely it should make him feel better being able to get by under the cover of darkness, without fear of burning his skin, but there was a new kind of dark in this place. His vampire vision was usually completely focused and sharp, but something here made it fuzzy and it found it hard to keep his attention on anything for longer than a few seconds.

 Tsukishima had always said there was a lot of evil magic here.

 Daichi had never been sure why the Angel's liked to spend time in the trees. They did not fear anything, so the creatures that dwelled here would not bother them, but it wasn't exactly the most pleasant of surroundings. Barely any sunlight (or in Daichi's case, moonlight) could get through the thick canopy above.

 He'd heard that perhaps they lived atop the mountain, in some kind of old shrine, but it was difficult to prove as no one would dare venture there.

 Could that be where Oikawa had kept Natsu and Suga the last time? Was that where Suga was now? Would there be any possibility of Daichi being able to find him?

 Treading carefully through the underbrush, Daichi kept his hands held out in front of him to stop him from smacking face first into any trees too dark for him to spot. It was almost as if the forest was alive and things kept moving around. There was no path to follow and he had tried using his vampire speed, only to get whacked in the face by a thick branch that had sent him sprawling into a pile of damp leaves.

 How far in had he gotten? He glanced over his shoulder but saw nothing but enveloping black.

 It had been all his fault Suga had been snatched. He hadn't been paying attention to him. Daichi had sworn he would always protect him and he'd let Oikawa lift him straight into the sky and soar away with him. If he'd not panicked in that moment, maybe he could have outrun Oikawa and jumped up to grab Suga. Anything would have been just standing there, completely dumbstruck, while Suga screamed out for him.

 There was no way he was going to let Suga go through any of that shit with Oikawa again. He'd suffered enough by Oikawa's hand. He felt like Oikawa was leading him into some kind of trap but he didn't care, there was nothing that was going to stop him from getting Suga back to safety, even if it meant swapping places with him.

 Had Oikawa decided to kill them all off for helping Kageyama? Did he see them as sinners for helping an Abomination? Or did he think taking Suga again would draw Kageyama to him?

 Surely he would know that the group wouldn't let Kageyama go off on his own again so willingly. He had more sense now that he knew the full story and it was easier to get him to stay put. Lying to him had not helped the situation, but they hadn't had much of a choice back then. Now he knew how serious the situation was and why Oikawa really wanted him dead, he wasn't going to walk so willingly into Oikawa's open arms.

 So, what plan did Oikawa have?

 Twenty minutes passed before Daichi stumbled across something. It was Suga's little potion bag, just hanging from a tree branch. He hurried over and snatched it, although it seemed the tree was reluctant to give it up.

 All of Suga's remaining potion bottles were inside. Daichi slung it onto his back and headed in the direction the branch pointed in. He had a feeling the bag had been left there on purpose to help guide him the right way.

 Usually when Daichi was out looking for people, he could track them by scent. He knew Suga's scent like the back of his hand; he'd had his face pressed into Suga's hair or neck so many times. It had always comforted him, knowing exactly where Suga was at any given moment. Most of the time, before Kageyama had come to town, Suga had just been in or around the Sugar Cup and never ventured out any further, but when he did, even if he went to visit Sunshine Bay, Daichi could still smell him.

 Not having this ability now made him scared. The only time a person lost their scent was when they were dead.

 He shook his head furiously. There was no way Suga was dead. It was the forest blocking it. All he could smell was copper, coffee and a burning fire. It had been a surprise to him when he'd first entered the forest with Suga all those years ago. He hadn't expected it to smell so earthy and comforting, but Tsukishima had told him later on that there was a kind of pheromone that the trees gave off to lure people in and it smelled different to everyone, usually depending on what appealed most to you.

 Tanaka had eagerly exclaimed that he smelt Kiyoko's hair whenever he went near the woods. Suga had gone bright red and had mumbled something about it 'smelling like Daichi' and hadn't really specified as to what that particular scent was. Tsukishima hadn't given an answer when asked what it was that he smelt.

 Another five minutes of walking and a new scent caught his attention. He twisted his head and looked around, pinpointing its location. He hurried over and knelt down near the base of a tree, where there was a dark splash across a sawn-off trunk. With a shaking hand, he dipped his index finger in the splatter and brought it to his tongue.

 He'd known straight away it was Suga's blood without having to taste it, but there was a part of him that wanted to doubt it, that someone else's blood just smelled similar, but he couldn't deny it now he'd tasted it. Suga had always had quite a unique taste to his blood, probably because of all the weird potions he drank, but this had never put Daichi off. If anything, he'd become strangely addicted to it, more than he had with human blood. It was sweet, like it was laced with sugar.

 Daichi clenched his fists and stood up slowly, glaring around. Oikawa had hurt Suga. This blood splatter wasn't very big, but even one scratch on Suga's beautiful body was enough to make Daichi want to tear someone's head off.

  'For all you know,' A sly voice came from above. 'I could have poisoned that. Didn't your mother teach you not to put dirty things in your mouth? Then again, that's not the first time you've got something of that repulsive little witch in your mouth, is it?'

 Oikawa was sat high up in a tree, swinging his legs. He stood out so vividly against the black around him. He was so pure white that it almost hurt Daichi's eyes to look at him. He bared his teeth, fangs slipping down from inside his gums. 'Where's Suga? If you've hurt him, I swear to-'

 'To God? Which one? What would a false God do?' Oikawa grinned, dropping an acorn of top of Daichi's head. 'My Father wouldn't care about some disgusting witch, especially one that was harbouring an Abomination.'

 'Where's Suga?' Daichi asked again, his voice stern and threatening. Oikawa gave a very over-dramatic shrug.

 'Around.'

 'Tell me.'

 'What are you going to do, Sawamura? Bite me?' Oikawa jumped down from the tree and stood in front of Daichi, unfurling his bright wings from his back. They glowed against the darkness that surrounded them. He tapped at his neck. 'Go ahead.'

 Daichi had no time for Oikawa's games. Quicker than the eye could see, Daichi had grabbed Oikawa by the throat and slammed him into the nearest tree trunk, his fingers squeezing. This only made Oikawa laugh and he blasted Daichi backwards with the flick of his hand, causing Daichi to crash through a thick nettle bush.

 'You know I really can't stand creatures like you.' Oikawa was making his way over. Daichi scrambled to his feet. 'Pretending to belong to this world.'

 'I do belong here.'

 'No one born human belongs here. No one born human deserves life at all, let alone an extended one.' Oikawa sent a flash of blue light straight into Daichi's chest, hurling him backwards. He hit a tree and slid down, his head spinning.

 Once again, Daichi got up. 'So that's your plan is it, kill off everyone in the town that was once human?'

 'I guess, eventually. It's not really my main issue right now. I want that Abomination dead and I want his father dead and I want his mother dead. I want Shoyo dead and I want Suga dead.'

 Daichi ran at Oikawa, wrapping his arms around his waist and flinging him as hard as he could to the ground. Oikawa didn't even hit the soil, he'd already teleported a short distance away.

 'That might have almost worked if you weren't so weak from how poorly you've been eating since that Kitsune destroyed the Sugar Cup, but you're in luck, my little vampire, because I have a treat for you.' Oikawa's eyes gleamed. He beckoned with his hand. 'This way!'

 He took off into the trees and it took Daichi a few moments to follow. It wasn't difficult to keep track of Oikawa, even if it was further ahead, he was like a beacon of light.

 Eventually, Daichi found himself stood in a clearing where the moon shone down and illuminated the grass and tree tops in silver. Oikawa was sat on a stump, a body lay still at his feet.

 'No!' Daichi tried to dart forwards, but bright blue fire sprang up around him, blocking his exit. He knew even barely touching the fire would set his whole body alight. He couldn't even jump over it, as the fire would spring up and catch him by surprise. He had seen others die because of it before, he wasn't going to make the same mistake. Angel Fire was deadly. 'Suga! Suga! Answer me!'

 'Sorry, Daichi, he's out cold. He's still alive though, don't you worry.' Oikawa bent down and pulled Suga into a sitting position so Daichi could see his face. He was as white as a sheet and had a nasty gash across his face. 'I was tired of him looking so sweet and refreshing all the time, so I thought I'd give him a new look. What do you think? Charming, isn't it? Should I do more?'

 Oikawa pulled out his Angel blade and held it close to Suga's face. Daichi felt his blood boil. 'GET AWAY FROM HIM!'

 'Well, by all means, please, stop me.' Oikawa smirked, before dragging the blade down Suga's other cheek. Small beads of red blood appeared and trickled their way down to his neck, where they stained his shirt collar.

 'STOP IT! PLEASE!' Daichi pleaded, screaming as loud as he could. He couldn't bear to watch his boyfriend being injured in front of him. At least Suga wasn't awake to feel any pain. 'Swap him with me! He was born a witch, it's me you hate more. You can do what you like with me, just let him go!'

 'See, although you make a compelling argument, you're less intrusive as Mr. Refreshing over here. He just has to constantly stick his nose in where it doesn't belong and letting him go with only cause me more trouble when trying to get my hands on the Abomination, so I'm going to have to politely regret your offer.'

 Another slice across Suga's forehead. Daichi's heart felt like it had just fallen into the pit of his stomach. He screamed. 'STOP IT! JUST STOP!'

 'You're going to have to make me, Daichi.' Oikawa was enjoying this far too much. He loved having a sense of power and watching others suffer at his hand. Daichi knew he was only making him happier by reacting to his taunts, but he was terrified that if he pretended not to care, he'd only hurt Suga more until he got the reaction he wanted.

 Oikawa got up and dragged Suga over by his hair, dropping him on the edge of the fire, within arm's reach of Daichi. He knelt down, swinging the blade over Suga's head. Daichi couldn't stop the tears.

 'You could have prevented this in the beginning, you know. You could have all have sent Tobio to me and that would have been that. None of you would have to suffer, but now, I'm going to kill Suga in front of you, then I'm going to let you sit there until the sun comes up tomorrow while I go off and slaughter every single one of your friends. I'll tell Tobio it was all his fault that you all died, that he didn't hand himself over when he should have done, and it'll drive him mad, won't it? Maybe he'll become the Abomination again, that's always amusing to watch.' Oikawa smiled playfully. 'I bet you've been training him in secret, right? How cute, like it'll make a difference. He's still human, so he'll still die.'

 On these final words, Oikawa slammed the knife down into Suga's shoulder blade and Daichi let out a ear-splitting scream and dropped his knees.

 'Please, please,' Daichi could only beg. Tears were falling onto his clenched hands. He'd scraped his fingernails into the dirt. 'Please, don't kill him.'

  _Tsukishima, where are you? Yamaguchi, Asahi, Tanaka- someone, anyone. Please_.

 The shoulder of Suga's shirt was slowly staining with blood. Daichi could smell it and it made his body ache. He had to resist the hunger, he couldn't let his vampire side take over and try to jump through the fire. Maybe that's what Oikawa wanted. To watch him burn.

 'Hey, hey, don't look away,' Oikawa was snapping his fingers. 'I want you paying attention, or I'm going to start pulling out his organs and throwing them at you.'

 Hatred seeping through every inch of his body, Daichi raised his head, his eyes burning with fire. He loathed Oikawa so much, and not just for what he was doing to, and had done to, Suga. Oikawa had ruined so many lives, he'd torn families apart and he could still sleep at night with that fucking stupid ass smirk on his face while everyone else mourned and wept. Angels were scum.

 'My, my, that's a face.' Oikawa pulled Suga into a sitting position. He flopped against Oikawa's chest. 'I'll let you pick where I cut next, sound fair? No? Well, I guess his throat will do-'

'NO!'

 'Then choose. Quickly, please.' Oikawa tapped the blade against the side of Suga's neck. Daichi was shaking, he couldn't stop himself. He'd never felt this scared before. He'd never felt so utterly pathetic and vulnerable.

 'I won't.' Daichi muttered. Oikawa sighed.

 'Sheesh, you could have said the back of his hand or something, at least that wouldn't be as bad!' Oikawa got to his feet and dragged Suga's limp form up with him. He let Suga fall against his chest again, face first, and pulled up the back of his shirt. Daichi scrambled to his feet.

 'What are you doing?! Stop it! STOP-'

 It was too late. Oikawa wasn't going to listen to anything he said. He'd dragged the blade from the right corner of Suga's back all the way to the top left hand corner, making sure to press quite hard. Instantly, blood began to flow and splatter onto the ground. Daichi was screaming and Oikawa was laughing.

 Daichi was on his knees again. He was suddenly calm, even though his hands and knees were shaking terribly. He looked up and locked eyes with Oikawa. 'I'm going to kill you.'

 For a moment, Oikawa looked like he was frightened, but then he blew a raspberry and picked Suga up. 'Ooh, scary. You'll have to deal with this first.'

 He dropped Suga over the edge of the flames. Daichi jumped back and Suga hit his legs, lying down face first. Daichi scrambled to pull him close, shifting him so he was lying in his arms. A hand went to Suga's neck, there was still a pulse and his chest was rising and falling. Daichi let out a sob of relief.

 Then it hit him.

 The smell.

 There was so much blood. It was all over his hands now, running down his legs. There was blood dripping from Suga's ransacked face and more seeping from the deep wound in his shoulder. Daichi's gums were starting to ache.

 Immediately, he pushed Suga away and jumped up, but there was nowhere for him to go. He was trapped. This is what Oikawa had planned all along, he wasn't going to kill Suga, he was going to make Daichi eat him instead.

 He wouldn't be able to throw Suga over the fire either, as that would kill him. Even if it didn't, he'd be throwing him straight back over to Oikawa, who would either slice his throat for the fun of it or just drop Suga back in the ring again.  

 A vein was throbbing in his head and his heart was pounding. He could taste Suga's blood in the back of his throat. He was doing everything he could to stop himself from licking the blood off of his hands, but it was becoming more and more difficult.

 'How long before the blood lust kicks in?' Oikawa called.

 'Please, don't-' Daichi turned to look at the flames behind him.

 It was his only choice.

 He was going to have to kill himself to save Suga.

 'Ah, ah, don't even think about it, Daichi. If you jump in that fire I'm going to torture Suga for the rest of his life, and I'm sure witches live quite a long time. I'll do to him what I did to Shoyo, I'll make him believe that you abandoned him and never loved him and that everyone in his life hated him. I'll drive him to the brink of suicide and I still won't let him die.'

 One more idea sprang to mind. Daichi closed his eyes and let out a long breath.

 He turned on the spot and bent down, gathering Suga up in his arms. Oikawa's face lit up and he clacked his teeth together in a biting motion.

_Good, I'm glad he thinks I'm going to bite him_ , Daichi thought, looking down at Suga, every fond memory they'd ever had together rushing through his mind. A tear dropped onto Suga's cheek, disappearing into the blood. _At least if I'm going to die, it'll be with you._

'I love you.' He muttered, before bending down to plant a kiss on Suga's lips.

 He immediately regretted this choice.

 There hadn't been any blood on Suga's lips but Daichi had managed to get some onto his face. It dribbled down and the tiniest amount met his lips and out of instinct, he licked it away.

 Suga dropped to the floor.

 Daichi was stood rigid in the centre of the ring of fire, his hands vibrating. Oikawa lent over, trying to get a better view.

 When Daichi's head snapped up, he jumped back, startled. Red veins had spread out from Daichi's eyes, which were also crimson in colour. His fangs had extended so much they had pierced his bottom lip.

 Oikawa clapped his hands in glee.

 And, without a moments hesitation, Daichi dropped to his knees, picked Suga up and sunk his teeth into the base of his neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was just thinking 'how harsh would it be to just have Daichi jump into the fire?'   
>  but I decided against it because I feared Elsilly (girl this fic is dedicated to) would slaughter me while I slept :P 
> 
> ALSO PLEASE CHECK OUT THIS AMAZING ART WORK AINU ON TUMBLR DREW FOR THIS FIC!!!!!   
> I SCREM  
> http://ainu.tumblr.com/post/131648969108/inktober-21-tengu-hinata-sunshine-harbour-is


	29. White Wings

Blue fire was replaced with flickering orange flames.

 Daichi didn't look up. There was blood all over him, down his shirt, running over his chin, covering his hands. Suga was limp and almost lifeless in his arms, his eyes closed, his skin a pasty white.

 It wasn't until someone had grabbed him around the middle and flung him backwards into a tree trunk that Daichi paid any attention to his surroundings.

 Tsukishima, in his Kitsune form, was squaring up with Oikawa, who'd spread his wings in a form of intimidation, and fire was circling around the pair of them, blue and orange clashing together, startlingly vibrant against the inky black night.

 It was Asahi who had thrown him. He was stood a short distance away, looking as worried as he always did, standing as a guard between him and Suga, who was now being hoisted into Saeko's lap. She had made her brother remove his jacket and was pressing it against the wound in Suga's neck, shouting around at the others who had gathered around her, demanding to know if anyone knew how to heal him.

 'Suga's the healer!' Yamaguchi was fretting, hands on his head. He was watching Tsukishima clash with Oikawa, his bottom lip bleeding from where he had bitten it in his worry. 'Kenma would probably be able to do something, but he's not around and Suga is the only one who knows how to summon him!'

 'Is- is- will he be alright?' Daichi had gotten to his feet and attempted to move over, but Asahi stood in his way. He took a few steps back with his hands raised, showing that he wasn't going to be a threat to them. Now that he was away from Suga, and he had drank, he didn't feel the craving urge anymore, despite all the blood that was soaked into his skin.

 He could feel everyone's gaze upon him, judging him, and it made his heart ache. He'd never wanted his friends to look at him like that, to see him as nothing more than a disgusting vampire. Part of him wanted to run, to hide his face and never step foot in this town again, but he knew he had to face what he had done, what Oikawa had made him do, and somehow make it up to all of them.

 'He's lost a lot of blood,' Saeko said at no one in particular. 'He's bleeding from so many different places, if we don't stop the flow, he'll bleed out.'

 'Please, let me, vampires have healing powers-' Daichi tried to move forwards again, but Asahi caught him by the shoulder and pushed him back. Hot tears stung his eyes and spilled down his face. Asahi was trying not to cry himself.

 'Sorry mate, but we can't risk it, not with this much blood, you should just stay back.' Tanaka said to Daichi, trying to help his sister put pressure on Suga's wounds. 'There's a doctors in the town, could we get him back there?'

 'I don't think he'd make it.' Saeko replied, looking distressed. She glanced over her shoulder at Daichi. 'Maybe we can trust him?'

 'Look at his eyes, Saeko.' Tanaka said. 'They're bright red. His fangs are still out. He could drain Suga in a heartbeat if we let him back near. I'm sorry Daichi, I just don't know if you could control yourself.'

 'If we don't try, he'll die anyway!' Saeko snapped. She looked around, frantic. 'Where are Hinata and the others? I thought they were behind us.'

 As if they had heard her speaking their names, Hinata, Natsu, Kageyama and Noya came crashing through the trees, looking scratched and a bit disorientated. At the sight of Kageyama, Oikawa threw Tsukishima out of his way and flew into the air, beating his wings furiously, making a breeze whip at their clothing and hair.

 'Suga!' Natsu cried, ignoring Oikawa's presence and rushing over to him. 'Oh God, oh no, he's barely breathing, oh no, Suga, please, please, wake up! Please!'

 'Doesn't look like he's going to make it, does it?' Oikawa laughed from above, his eyes fixed on Kageyama. Hinata had stepped forwards to try and shield him, but Kageyama had taken hold of his wrist and dragged him back. 'You took your time getting here, I'm not even that far into the woods, it's quite shameful of you Tsukki, I thought your senses were better than that. I was hoping you'd come sooner, Suga might have avoided his unfortunate fate. How many of your friends are you going to let die for you, Tobio? I will happily kill them all first, if that's your wish, but in the end, it's always going to be you.'

 'Where's my mother?' Kageyama asked angrily, his fists clenched. Daichi could see his whole body shaking.

 Oikawa chuckled. 'She's alive. I thought I might use her as a bargaining chip. Her life for yours- sounds fair, yeah?'

 'I don't believe you. How do I even know she's here? Tsukishima said he can't smell her.'

 'Well, he wouldn't, not while she's somewhere in these trees, but you definitely caught her scent earlier, didn't you, Tsukki?' Oikawa smirked over at Tsukishima, who had transformed back into his human form and was glaring up at the sky. 'Do you think your friend would lie to you?'

 'I wouldn't really call us friends.' Tsukishima interrupted. He glanced over at Kageyama. 'But I definitely sensed her presence in the town. I suspect that's what he's been doing for the past month.'

 'She's a tricky woman to find,' Oikawa sighed, as though he had been through such a traumatic ordeal. 'But I got her in the end.'

 Kageyama bared his teeth. 'If you hurt her-'

 'What are you going to do, Tobio? Float some rocks at me?' He cackled. Kageyama looked a little taken back. 'Don't make that face, it's unflattering. I prefer it when you're grumpy, it suits you, weirdly. I figured since you found out about your Abomination side, you'd be practicing with your new-found power. I bet Tsukki has been helping you, huh?'

 'Oikawa, this has gone far enough-' Daichi tried to snap, but Oikawa cut him down.

 'I think you should worry about your dying lover rather than what I'm doing. I don't think he's got very long left. Pity. Who will be left to defend you, vampire, when Suga's gone? No one else wants you in this town.'

 To everyone's surprise, Kageyama turned his attention away from Oikawa and marched over to where Suga lay still in Saeko's arms. He knelt down next to him and placed his hand over his heart. Oikawa raised an eyebrow.

 'What are you doing, Kageyama?' Tanaka asked.

 Kageyama looked over his shoulder at Oikawa, who had his head tilted to one side, observing. 'Did you know my Dad left behind a journal?'

 'A journal?'

 'Kenma found it. My mother hid it for him. It contained a lot of interesting information about Angels you know, including a section on 'healing powers.'

 Before Oikawa could stop him, Kageyama's hand had illuminated a vibrant blue and it spread out over Suga's body. Within seconds, the wounds had all closed up and the bleeding stopped.

 A gust of wind sent Kageyama flying backwards. He almost smacked into a tree but Hinata was there, ready to catch him, but lost balance and they fell into a pile on the grassy floor. Both were back on their feet within seconds, turning to face Oikawa, who looked livid.

 'You disgusting-' He spat, unable to decide which word he wanted to use to insult Kageyama. 'You're an Abomination. Only Angels, true Angels, should be gifted with the divine power of healing. It is going against God himself, the Creator. He and His children alone decide who lives and who dies, not you!'

 'Perhaps you should have studied the power of Nephilim a little more, Oikawa. It was foolish of you to assume that he is any weaker than you just because he has human blood in his veins.' Tsukishima interjected.

 'He _is_ weaker than me!'

 'Currently, but that is only because he doesn't understand the full range of his abilities.' Tsukishima had a smirk on his face.

 Kageyama frowned. 'You said he would always be stronger than me.'

 'I wasn't lying, he probably will be. I don't think you have the resolve to completely master your power, simply because you are too human, but that doesn't mean Oikawa should overlook it completely.'

 Oikawa scoffed and turned his attention back to Kageyama. He folded his arms. 'So, what else does this journal say?'

 'This and that.' Kageyama shrugged. He held up his hand and let it glow blue for a moment. 'I think I'm getting the hang of it. My Dad said it's all mental.'

 A vein in Oikawa's forehead throbbed. It was obviously irritating him that Kageyama was using Angel magic. 'That's cute, but Angel magic can't kill other Angels, so I don't know what you think you're going to accomplish by using it.'

 'You think we'd come here if we didn't have some means to fight you?' Noya snapped, moving over to stand by Asahi. Oikawa laughed at him.

 'What are you going to do, mortal? It must be frustrating, no longer having your little wings.' Oikawa flapped his, as if to show them off. Noya looked pissed. Oikawa drew his Angel dagger and held it out in front of him. 'Unless you want to try and reach for this. Go on, jump shorty. I'm not even floating that high.'

 Laughing to himself, Oikawa dropped to the ground and twirled the dagger in his hands. 'Come on then, who's first?'

 To his surprise, Tanaka stepped forwards. He cracked his knuckles and then his neck. 'That would be me.'

 Oikawa actually looked a little panicked and he stepped back as Tanaka's eyes lit up. There was a huge, cracking sound and the ground in the centre of the clearing began to split and crumble. Instantly, Oikawa was in the air, avoiding falling as a huge chunk of earth dropped away.

 The rest of the group all moved back, hiding in the trees. Daichi could see a huge rippling vortex opening up in the ground, beginning to pull in any lose rocks and fallen branches that surrounded it. The tops of the trees at the edge of the clearing were all starting to lean towards it, pulled by an invisible force.

 'You'll pull everyone in, you idiot!' Oikawa was screeching but Tanaka just shrugged.

 'Better we take you down with us.' He let out a short laugh. 'You think I can't control my own vortexes? I'm a God. I've been alive longer than you. The only reason I went haywire before was because I had that brat messin' in my head.'

 Trying to fly away seemed impossible. Oikawa was attempting it, but the drag of Tanak's vortex was pulling on his wings. A few white feathers were torn out.

 'Where will he go if he gets sucked in?' Daichi heard Natsu asked Saeko, who was carrying Suga in her arms. Daichi wanted to take him from her, to run away with him, somewhere as far from Oikawa as possible, but even with his wounds healed, he doubted the others would let him close.

 'Honestly, we don't know. Me and Ryuu used to lob random items into his vortexes when we were younger, but we don't know where they ended up. Once or twice it would spit things back out at us. We always wondered if there's something on the other side.'

 Suddenly, the ground closed back up and Oikawa fell to the floor with a thud. Tanaka was frozen to the spot, looking over at Noya, who was being held in Iwaizumi's arms. He was kicking and flailing, trying to get free, but eventually fell still went Iwaizumi held an Angel blade to his throat. Asahi was close by, getting to his feet. He'd been thrown out of the way.

 'You took your time, Iwa.' Oikawa grumbled, brushing himself down as he stood up. Iwaizumi said nothing and just glared at him. 'You thought it would be that easy, huh? You're a false God.'

 'There isn't one true God you stupid-' Tanaka tried to march forwards but when Noya gave a small yelp he stopped. The blade was really pressing against his skin.

 If Noya was killed with an Angel blade, nothing would be able to bring him back, not even Kageyama's Angel magic.

 'Now, Tobio, if you'd come front and centre please. I'm tired of constantly having to deal with your friends instead of you.' Oikawa said, looking over at Kageyama who had appeared out of the trees with Hinata, who was holding onto his hand. 'Please bear in mind that if anything happens to me, your mother won't survive.'

 'For Heaven's sake, Oikawa. Just kill him already. I'm tired of this.' Iwaizumi snapped.

 Instinctively, Hinata stepped in front of Kageyama. Before Kageyama could push him away, however, Tanaka stepped forwards. As did Daichi, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi and Natsu. The only person who didn't run to Kageyama's aid was Asahi, who was tense, watching Iwaizumi like a hawk.

 'I guess you should start by killing Nishinoya then.' Oikawa yawned, giving Iwaizumi a sideways glance.

 'Like heck you will!' Noya cried, lobbing a fistful of glitter in Iwaizumi's face. It exploded in a huge shroud of pink, and there was a thump as Noya dropped to the floor. He had a small slice on his jaw, but nothing serious. He ran over to Asahi, who grabbed him and pulled him close to his chest. Iwaizumi came spluttering out of the glitter cloud, his dark hair sparkling.

 'My, Iwa, that's embarrassing.' Oikawa couldn't help but chuckle.

 'How did he do that? I thought he wasn't a pixie anymore?' Kageyama asked. Daichi explained.

 'He can't produce any more pixie dust, but I think Noya has quite a large supply of it left.' He pushed past Tanaka and stood at the very front of the group, all of them shielding Kageyama from view. He folded his arms across his chest. The blood on his shirt was starting to dry and he was itching for a change of clothing, but he had just deal with it and ignore it for the time being. 'I think you're underestimating our group, Oikawa. It's quite big-headed of you.'

 'Shall I just kill Tobio's mother then?' Oikawa gave a small shrug and nodded to Iwaizumi. 'Tell the others to slit her throat.'

  A blinding flash of blue made the group shield their eyes. Kageyama pushed his way to the  front, looking furious, his whole body glowing, including his eyes. 'If you touch my mother I will personally slaughter every last Angel on this planet.'

 Oikawa narrowed his eyes. 'You think I'm the only Angel who will come after you, Abomination? Even if you somehow managed to kill all of us, the others would hear of it, hear how something like you exists and they will all come to kill you.'

 'Where. Is. My. Mother?!' Kageyama spat each word, white wings unfurling from his back, spreading out wide to shield the group. Daichi almost got whacked in the face and had to jump back.

 'My, my, Tobio, you sure are scary looking. How about I make you a deal, then?'

 'What deal?'

 'Me versus you, one-on-one. Your friends all stay back and I'll tell mine to do the same. If you win, the Angel's will all leave Sunshine Harbour, you'll never hear from them again and you'll get your precious Mummy back.'

 'And how do I win?'

 Oikawa's face lit up. 'You're going to have to kill me before I kill you. Oh, be aware, Tobio, that if I win, I'm going to kill your mother and all of your friends too. Sounds fair?'

 Kageyama cracked his neck and took a step forward.

 'I'm not going to lose.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update (12/12) -  
> ALL MY UNI WORK IS SUBMITTED AND DONE (apart from one page but that won't take me long to do)  
> but it means I'll be able to start writing the last chapter! SO ITLL BE OUT SOON OK   
> SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON
> 
> If you do want to know, drop me a comment and I'll reply ASAP about the final chapter situation and how it's coming along!


	30. I'm Sorry It Had To End Like This

 A well-sized rock smacked into the side of Oikawa's head.

 He had been squaring off with Kageyama, who, although feeling nervous, knew this was his only option left, despite knowing that the odds were against him. He couldn't let Oikawa try to kill anymore of his friends, he couldn't be shielded by them any longer. They had done enough for him already. He needed to save his mother.

 However, it wasn't Kageyama who threw the rock.

 It was Iwaizumi.

 Oikawa slapped a hand to his head, looking around to stare at his friend. 'Ow! What the hell, Iwa! What'd you do that for?'

 Iwaizumi looked heavily pissed off. 'Don't you dare stand there and talk like we are going to just accept it if you died and leave. This is our town and we're staying regardless. Instead of showing off and playing your stupid games, just end it already, like I told you to back in the church.'

 'Kageyama, you can't accept this deal with Oikawa if the other Angels aren't going to keep to the arrangement,' Daichi shouted from behind. 'Even if you do somehow manage to kill Oikawa, what do you think the others are going to do?'

 'You can't trust anything Oikawa says.' Tsukishima added.

 Kageyama clenched his fists to his sides, looking down at the floor. 'I don't have a choice. He has my mother, he could kill all of you. What do you want me to do?'

 'See, Tobio is smart enough to know what's best,' Oikawa smiled over at the group, whilst still rubbing the spot on his head where the stone had hit him. 'You're all welcome to close your eyes if you don't want to see me lobbing off his head.'

 'Hurry up, Oikawa.' Iwaizumi snapped.

 Without warning, Oikawa attacked.

 He wasn't using his Angel magic, it was apparent that he wanted to do this with his own hands, and probably cause Kageyama some humiliation during. He had swept out his leg and knocked Kageyama off his feet, before driving his elbow into Kageyama's face.

 Tsukishima stepped forwards, obviously wanting to intervene, but Iwaizumi stepped out to block him, blade in hand. The other Angels had also appeared overhead, flying above the trees.

 'You're all talk, Tobio,' Oikawa said, as he slammed Kageyama against a tree and watched him slide down it. Kageyama had tried to use his magic to knock Oikawa back but it wasn't powerful enough. He couldn't concentrate, there was too much going on around him and his nose was bleeding. 'You're never going to be more powerful than me, so you might as well quit while you're ahead. It's lucky for you that you lasted this long in this town.'

 He began to walk towards Kageyama, but something came flying at him and knocked him over.

 Hinata appeared, black wings spread out, hands curled into talons. He slashed at Oikawa, who ducked, but managed to grab hold of his arm and twisted until he heard a snap and Oikawa shrieked. He now used his magic to blast Hinata backwards, sending him disappearing into the trees, and Kageyama cried after him.

 'Dammit, all of you, make sure this lot keep back!' He barked orders at his other Angels and nodded towards where Daichi and the others stood, clutching at his broken arm. 'This is between me and Tobio.'

 A little way over, Tsukishima and Iwaizumi were stood face to face, not fighting, but throwing very witty insults at each other with smiles on their face that said 'if you try anything, I'm going to kill you'.

 Kageyama, using this distraction that Hinata had provided for him, focused his mind completely on Oikawa and summoned all the energy he could to his palms. He moved quickly, rising and sprinting towards Oikawa. He wanted a direct hit.

 The palms of his hands connected with Oikawa's chest and a flash of blue light followed. Oikawa was flung backwards, only stopping when he crashed straight through a tree, which split in half and crashed to the ground, sending hundreds of noisy, dark birds scattering into the night sky.

 'Oikawa!' Iwaizumi had turned his head to look, and Tsukishima had seized this opportunity. Quick as a fox, he took hold of both of Iwaizumi's wings and pulled.

 Screaming followed and it wasn't long before Tsukishima was blasted backwards by Oikawa, who had run forwards to help Iwaizumi.

 Blood splattered the ground and Tsukishima lay some feet away, clutching one of Iwaizumi's white-feathered wings in his hand. Yamaguchi yelped and rushed over to him, trying to help him but he was dazed and had a large black scorch mark on his chest.

 'Oh God, Tsukki! Tsukki! Please be alright!'

 'Get back from him Yamaguchi!' Tanaka was shouting. He marched over to drag Yamaguchi away, with much protest. 'Stop it! You can't touch it, it'll burn you! He used Angel fire! Stop struggling and listen to me, dammit! Tsukishima is the only one who can withstand Angel fire, so all we can do is hope Tsukishima is strong enough to heal himself!'

 'Daichi! Daichi! You can do something, you can heal him!' Yamaguchi turned his head to screech at Daichi, who was frozen to the spot, white as a sheet, staring between the limp form of Suga and Tsukishima's burnt torso. He pulled a pained expression and shook his head.

 'My blood won't work on Angel magic, let alone on Tsukishima.'

  Meanwhile, Iwaizumi had fallen to his knees, his right hand pressed against his left shoulder. Oikawa was trying to get him to his feet, but Iwaizumi was swatting at him to get away.

 'Finish the job already! I will find a new vessel later. Get it over with, I'm sick of this!'

 Hesitant, Oikawa nodded and turned back to Kageyama, cracking his neck in the process. He had a few cuts down his face but they were healing and his broken arm had mended. The  most Kageyama had managed to do was burn a hole through Oikawa's shirt. He'd drawn a small amount blood, but not there were no wounds to prove it as they'd already healed over.

 'You know what, Tobio,' his eyes lit up a shining blue. 'The deals off. I'm just going to kill you, your friends and your mother.'

 'Like there was any deal to start with.' Kageyama spat back. 'I have no choice but to kill you.'

 Oikawa smirked. 'Heh, you can try, but that attack from before did nothing more than ruin my shirt. You've got nothing against me, Tobio. You might as well give up now, but I guess it's more fun watching you struggle to keep going.'

 The two of them collided again, Kageyama trying to muster all of his strength to keep Oikawa's hands from reaching his neck. He kicked out, aiming for Oikawa's shin and stomped on his in-step, making him howl.

 Just because he was an Angel didn't mean he didn't feel pain, especially having to possess what was once a human body.

 'End it!' He heard Iwaizumi shout, which was followed by a groan. Yamaguchi had kicked him in the side of the head and was now being pulled back by Tanaka, who was shouting at him to keep out of it and not get himself killed or Tsukishima would be furious.

 Hinata had appeared again, racing forwards to jump between Oikawa and Kageyama, but that was when an Angel swooped down and picked him off of his feet, carrying him high above the tree tops.

 Kageyama had been worried for a split second, before remembering that Hinata had wings of his own and he could fly. He broke apart from the Angel and the pair of them began battling in the sky.

 When Kageyama had paused to look up at Hinata, Oikawa had taken this moment to overpower him and slammed him to the ground. He knelt down on either arm, pinning him in place and withdrew his blade.

 Daichi immediately sped forwards but Oikawa was quicker, sending a flash of blue light straight at Daichi, which hit him in the stomach and sent him reeling. He collapsed a little distance away, still visible in the trees, and lay still.

 The others cried his name while Asahi and Noya ran over to him. Saeko was hoisting Suga into her arms and getting to her feet. She gave Kageyama one last pitying look, muttered something to her brother, nodded to Natsu to follow her, and disappeared into the swallowing darkness of the forest.

 That was alright, Kageyama found himself thinking. It was safer to get Suga out of there.

 'Well, Tobio,' Oikawa held the knife above his head. 'It's been fun. Not.'

 Kageyama squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the blade to pierce his heart. He remembered what it felt like to be stabbed in the chest from when Hinata had done it previously, and he couldn't deny he was scared. He didn't want to know he was dying, he didn't want to have all the breath in his body taken from him in one sharp movement, he didn't want to Hinata to see him lying there, motionless.

 He should have never come to Sunshine Harbour.

 However, the pain never came and the weight on top of his shifted.

 There was a yelp and a thud and Kageyama opened his eyes, frowning. Oikawa was no longer knelt on top of him.

 Quickly, he rolled onto his side and got to his feet, turning to see a man with huge white wings stood over Oikawa, who had been flung against a tree and was looking a little dazed. Slowly, the man turned and locked eyes with Kageyama.

 Then he smiled.

 'Hello, son.'

 It was unsurprising that people recognised Kageyama as this man's son. He had the same dark hair, slicked against his head, and piercing blue eyes. Kageyama definitely resembled his mother more but he could see the similarities in his father's face to his own.

 Speechless, Kageyama gagged, trying to say something- anything- but he had no idea what to say to a man that he had never even thought about his entire life.

 'Holy crap.' He heard Tanaka say from the sidelines. 'Where did he come from?'

 'Oh, uh,' a little voice said from their right. Kenma appeared through the trees, looking down at Iwaizumi who was slumped against a large oak tree, breathing heavily. He had lost a lot of blood. 'I brought him. I figured out some possible locations he might be after reading his journal and tracked him down.'

 'Kenma told me you were in danger, Tobio.' Malpas said, his many feathers ruffling in a slight breeze. His wings were much bigger than Oikawa's. Perhaps this meant he was much older. He looked to be in his late-thirties, but that was probably the human body he possessed. 'I never wanted this life for you. I wanted to protect you, it's why I left your mother behind before you were born. Please understand that I would have given anything to have had a family-'

 'I'm aware.' Kageyama cut him off. He didn't really want to hear it. He'd already decided he didn't hate his father, but he still didn't have to particularly like the man.

 'You're scum,' Oikawa spat, getting to his feet. He looked severely pissed off, as though Malpas being in his mere presence angered him. 'Breeding with a human, how disgusting.'

 'Is that no better than attempting to breed with a demon?' Malpas laughed, raising one eyebrow. Oikawa shot an angry glance at Kenma, who shrugged and took a seat next to Iwaizumi, who didn't look impressed and shuffled away. 'Yes, Kenma filled me in on everything. You should realise, Toru, that this world does not belong to us, this is humanity's domain. You cannot take control of it, you cannot own it. It is because of the Sin of Greed that you were cast out of heaven.'

 Gasps followed. Mainly from Tanaka.

 He pointed his finger at Oikawa and cackled. 'And you were talking about how great your God was! He didn't even want you! No wonder you're so bitter! HA!'

 A vein throbbed in Oikawa's forehead. He bare his teeth. 'I'll make penance by killing off the scum that our Father regrets creating, and that disgusting Abomination that you helped spawn. How dare you bear those wings when you are nothing but a traitor!'

 'Ah, little brother, if only things that been different between us.'

 'WHAT?!' Tanaka wasn't the one who shouted this time, although he did look like a baffled fish. Kageyama strode forwards, standing next to his father. 'He's my... my.. UNCLE?!'

 Malpas turned to him and chuckled. 'Well, yes, but all Angels are kin, because we were created by the same person. Our Father, God. Every Angel here is your relative, technically. It's why it hurts more, when one of them betrays you.'

 'You would know all about betrayal, wouldn't you?' Oikawa scoffed. Malpas sighed.

 'Yes, Oikawa, I'm sorry. I left you behind when we fell together, but I couldn't resist seeing this world through my own eyes. You only focus on the hate and lies that have been fed to you about our Father, that you cannot see the beauty of the world for yourself. It's unfortunate.'

 'Don't talk to me like you care!' Oikawa shouted, looking livid. 'You _abandoned_ me. You only cared about yourself, you didn't want to be an Angel anymore, you just wanted to be human- so why would you want to continue associating with me?'

 'Is this what this has all been about?' Malpas sighed, digging his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He was dressed very casually, in jeans and striped sweater. Kageyama couldn't help where he was when Kenma had found him. 'You want to kill my son to get back at me?'

 'He has Mum too.'

 For a few moments Malpas was silent and then he took a step towards Oikawa. 'You've got two choices, Oikawa. Either you return her to me, leave my son alone and you will get out of this town and stay out, permanently, you can take all your little Angel buddies too, or you can stand up against me and we'll see who wins.'

 To Kageyama's surprise, Oikawa started laughing. Proper laughter, the kind where tears end up rolling down your cheeks. Oikawa looked quite smug once he'd stopped and wiped at his eyes. 'That was funny, you acting like you've got a chance anymore.'

 Oikawa had raised his hand before anyone could stop him.

 Both Kageyama and his father were flung back, landing together in a heap. Malpas was quick to his feet, drawing his Angel blade from his sleeve.

 The pair of them began slashing at each other, ducking and diving, dodging each blow. Hinata landed by Kageyama's side and took hold of his arm, trying to drag him away. The Angel that Hinata had been battling again was badly injured and had landed next to Iwaizumi and was pulling him to his feet.

 'Let's get out of here, your Father will deal with this.'

 'No! I'm not leaving him behind! I need to talk to him! I need to know everything! And I have to get my mother back!'

 'More Angels are coming, we need to go!'

 Just as Hinata said that, at least twenty more Angels appeared above them, wings so vibrant and glowing against the night sky. One of them was carrying Kageyama's mother.

 Without a moment's hesitation, Kageyama was up in the air, soaring towards the Angel that held his mother. He wasn't sure how he could fly so easily, it just felt natural to him in that moment.

 All he had on his mind was saving his mother.

 She screamed as Kageyama collided with the Angel and she slipped from the Angel's grasp, falling through the air, but Hinata was there to catch her.

 Kageyama tried to get back down to the pair of them but the Angel had hold of him tightly and was trying to stab him with an Angel blade. Kageyama kept sending energy blasts at him but they weren't having much effect.

 Just as the Angel almost sliced open Kageyama's throat, a huge cracking sound made them both freeze and then a small swirling black portal appeared over their heads. 

 It only took a second before the Angel was sucked into it.

 The only thing that saved Kageyama was Yamaguchi jumping out of nowhere, as a large brown fox, and slamming him back down to Earth. Groaning, he turned his head and saw Tanaka stood there with his eyes glowing bright, guiding his vortex towards all the Angels in the sky.

 They all tried to scatter, but Tanaka had control. He could make it as big as he wanted, and even though everyone on the ground was starting to float towards it, none of the Angels in the air could escape. One by one, they were pulled in, screaming, and then they vanished.

 Oikawa was howling, floating about a foot of the ground, wrestling with Malpas, who was trying to push him up towards the vortex.

 Iwaizumi, who could not fly with one wing, tried to get over to them but couldn't win against the pull of the vortex. The other Angel ended up grabbing him and flying off, disappearing into the trees.

 When Tsukishima's body started to float, Yamaguchi let go of Kageyama and bounded over to him, snatching Tsukishima up in his massive jaws and pounded off into the forest.

 Asahi and Noya had already taken Daichi away.

 'I'm going to get your mother to safety! Come on, Tobio!' Hianta was shouting over the noise that the vortex was creating. Trees were straining against their roots, threatening to be torn clean away from the soil.

 'GO! I've got control of this! Your Dad will get him in!' Tanaka yelled. Kageyama, who was clinging to a large rock in the ground for dear life, shook his head.

 'TAKE HER AND GO! I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY FATHER!'

 Hinata opened his mouth to argue, then closed it, glaring at Kageyama. With a very determined, and rather threatening, look in his eye, he roared, 'YOU HAD BETTER COME AFTER ME, TOBIO!'

 'I will! Go!'

 Hinata vanished.

 If there was one thing he was glad about, it was Hinata's trust in him. He obviously knew Kageyama would be too stubborn to do anything he didn't want to do, and Hinata knew Kageyama was strong enough to survive on his own. He had done the entire year Hinata was away, or when Hinata was possessed. He would always return to Hinata's side, no matter what.

 He loved him.

 He wanted to marry him and be with him forever. In their case, forever was going to be a very long time.

 Kageyama was ok with this.

 'Dad! I'm coming up to get you down!' Kageyama shouted, watching his father continue to struggle holding Oikawa in his arms. He was getting too near to the vortex. He would be pulled in if he wasn't careful. 'Throw him in! Do it now! Come back!'

 'I'm sorry, Tobio, but if I let go of him he'll get away.' Oikawa was swearing at him, but Malpas was ignoring him. 'I'm sorry it had to end like this. I would have liked to have known you.'

 'NO! NO! DON'T YOU DARE! YOU CAN'T COME INTO MY LIFE AND THEN DISAPPEAR AGAIN! IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT! WHAT ABOUT MUM? WHAT ABOUT ME? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?' Kageyama's voice hurt from how long he was shouting. He wanted to run over to Tanaka and smack him to the ground but he knew if he let go of this rock, which was already starting to wobble, he'd be sucked up there. Although he was quite tempted by the idea, thinking he would be able to kick Oikawa into the vortex and save his father, he didn't trust that this plan would actually work, and even though he wanted a life where he knew his father, he didn't want it more than a life with Hinata.

 'TANAKA! CLOSE THE VORTEX! DO IT NOW!'

 'Don't do it, Tanaka!' Malpas objected. 'I think it's better I go wherever Oikawa is going. Someone is going to need to look after him.'

 'You stupid-' Oikawa began but he never finished that sentence.

 With a faint pop, the pair of them were sucked into the vortex and vanished from existence. Or where sent wherever that portal leads.

 Tanaka collapsed to his knees and the vortex in the sky vanished and everything that was still floating towards it fell to the earth with a thud. Kageyama, feeling white hot rage searing through his body, scrambled over to Tanaka and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and began to shake him.

 'YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED IT! YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HIM!'

  It was Kenma who had to drag Kageyama off of Tanaka before he could start punching him in the face. Despite being so petite looking, Kenma was incredibly strong and didn't even need to try to hold Kageyama back, as he had turned his rage on him instead. Kenma had just hid during that battle and he could have done something to save his father.

 'The less Angels around here, the better.' Was all Kenma said, shrugging. 'Besides, your Father told me to do this. It wasn't Tanaka who chose to do this, it was me.'

 Silence followed and Kageyama stared at him, falling to his knees. 'What?'

 Kenma sighed. 'When I told you father about everything that had happened, he said that he didn't want to kill Oikawa. He has never wanted to kill Oikawa, or he would have done it long ago, but he couldn't let Oikawa try to kill you, so he suggested I take control of Tanaka and have all the Angels transported through the portal, and that he would go with them.'

 Tears were running down Kageyama's face. He grabbed the front of Kenma's shirt. 'But- why? Didn't he want to have a family?'

 'Those Angels are his family.'

 'I'M HIS FAMILY! I'M HIS SON!'

 Pulling himself away, Kenma pulled a tissue out of his back pocket and dropped it in front of Kageyama, who did not pick it up. 'Your nose is running. It's kinda gross.'

 'I'm his son...'

 'Kags,' Tanaka wheezed, falling back on his butt with his head in his hands. 'How old do you think your father is? He has known Oikawa and those other Angels for an infinite number of years, probably more lifetimes than this planet has seen. They will never die. You are part human, so you have an expiry date. Sure, it's longer than the average human, but you're still going to get old and die one day. Do ya' seriously think your old man wants to see that? To him, that would be like the blink of an eye. And Kenma-'

 'Mmm?'

 'If you ever get inside my head again, I'm going to tear your nutsack off, you hear me?!'

 Deciding not to respond to this threat and ignore the scary-face Tanaka was giving him, Kenma turned his attention back to Kageyama.

 'It's like what he said. Your father was never going to be in your life from the start, so why does it matter now? It's not like you're going to miss anything.' He put bluntly. 'He was happy enough to have just met you, and he'll be able to live the rest of eternity knowing that you are safe and you are happy.'

 'Yeah. Right.'

 

 It took some time for things to return to 'normal', whatever normal was these days.

 Kageyama had spent a lot of time locked away in Saeko's bedroom, especially after he had to have Kenma erase his mother's memories.

 Iwaizumi and that other Angel were still out there and he couldn't keep her here in Sunshine Harbour. He didn't like the thought of her missing him, or wondering what had happened to Malpas, and Kageyama knew he didn't have the heart to tell her, so he asked Kenma to wipe her memories of everything. Including him.

 'Are you sure?' Kenma had frowned.

 'Yes, make her believe her life's dream was to travel the world and never stop moving. Make her think she wants to meet new people and enjoy her life, and learn new languages or whatever. She never wanted any children and she's happy she didn't have any. Nothing supernatural at all, it should be all nonsense to her.'

 Having Hinata by his side made it easier to watch her go.

 All he wanted was for her to be happy and enjoy the rest of her human life. He did not want to see her die, and he did not want to return to Angel's Haven- not ever.

 He was going to live in Sunshine Harbour from now on.

 They would all work together to rebuild the Sugar Cup and he would work there as a bartender with Hinata to help Suga out, who was doing well in his recovery and had been appointed the new mayor of the town, as everyone in the Harbour thought he would be the perfect leader.

 Tsukishima had healed too, but the Angel fire had left a permanent scar across his chest, which Yamaguchi had joked was very 'manly'. It was fine when he was in his human form, but as a fox, he had a bald spot where fur once grew and Tanaka had laughed so hard he'd shot milk out of his nose.

 It had taken a while for Asahi to pluck up the courage to bite Noya on the night of the full moon, even though Noya spent a lot of the time trying to shove his arm into Asahi's mouth. The transformation process was painful but Asahi helped guide him through it. Kageyama was interested to see what Noya would look like as a wolf, but he'd have to wait another month to see that.

 Since Kenma never fulfilled Oikawa's wish, he was stuck on their side. He was kind of disgruntled by this, but he liked Hinata's company, and he had eventually set off to see his wizard friend, Kuroo.

 There were many nights when he missed his mother and wondered what had happened to his father and Oikawa, but it got easier to think about as time passed by.

 As long as he had Hinata by his side and a new black feather hanging around his neck to protect him from any harm that may come his way in the future, life in Sunshine Harbour was pretty perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I CANT BELIEVE ITS OVER IM SO SAD I REALLY LIKED WRITING THIS STORY   
> Cries while flinging self into the sun 
> 
> ALSO LOL THE TITLE IS MORE AN APOLOGY TO ALL OF YOU - I am so sorry I DONT LIKE HURTING THEM NOT REALLY THEYRE ALL MY BABIES but I live for the drama and the heartbreak   
> I feed off of it 
> 
> I may write some little side chapters to this fic, but I don't know when that will be because I've started planning/writing a brand new series called Joy :  
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/5428556/chapters/12543320
> 
> Thank you so much to anyone who has read my story, I hope I haven't caused anyone too much distress! <3


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